The role of immunogenetic factors and vitamin D deficiency in tuberculosis

1. Measuring Vitamin D and parathyroid hormone (PTH) for all the cohort subcategories (active TB, LTBI and healthy controls);
2. Identifying genetic susceptibility related to the vitamin D receptor and the vitamin D-dependent immune signaling pathways;
3. Evaluating cytokine response in relation to vitamin D levels and the individual genetic landscape;
4. Creating a model estimating  disease risk, based on the plasma vitamin D levels and genotype correlation;
Establishing a biobank for sample storage, with the aim of further study.

The techniques employed in the study included RT-PCR genotyping, ex-vivo stimulation experiments

From a public health perspective, this project aimed for an immediate, positive impact for the community it was implemented in. Its basis followed modelling studies, which suggested that improving case detection rates could be the only measure for better TB management in Romania, offering important data on the prevalence and distribution of TB and TBL among household contacts in a TB-endemic region. RID-TB included 110 TB patients and 251 household contacts of the patients, enrolled from “Victor Babes” Infectious Disease Hospital.

The results so far derived from the RID-TB project included the investigation of ATG5 and NOD2 polymorphisms in relation to an altered autophagy function in TB patients, and that of the CARD9 gene polymorphisms. ^{2, 3}