Vitamin D and urinary tract infections in women

Bratchikov O.I., Koryagin E.A.

Department of Urology; Kursk State Medical University, Kursk, Russia

The literature review is devoted to the study of the mechanisms of vitamin D involvement in the regulation of the immune response to infection, as well as the relationship between serum vitamin D levels and urinary tract infections (UTI) for women. Currently, the mechanisms of vitamin D’s involvement in the regulation of innate immunity have been reliably established , as well as the immune response of lymphoid tissue associated with the intestine , in response to the introduction of infection. Vitamin D is also involved in the modulation of the adaptive human immune system, which provides acquired anti-infective immunity, however, despite the fact that some mechanisms of this interaction have already been studied, the available data are still insufficient to draw unambiguous conclusions about the role of vitamin D in all infections. However, the obtained convincing evidence of a relationship between low serum vitamin D levels and a higher frequency of more pronounced UTIs in women allows us to consider vitamin D as a new independent predictor of UTIs. In addition, clinical studies that have compensated for vitamin D deficiency in women with UTIs demonstrate a pronounced preventive effect of such complementation in recurrent UTIs. Given the urgency of the problem of vitamin D deficiency and urinary tract infections, there is still a need to continue conducting high-level clinical trials in this area.

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About the Authors

Corresponding author: O.I. Bratchikov – Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor, Academician of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, Honored Doctor of the Russian Federation; Head of the Department of Urology of the Kursk State Medical University of the Ministry of Health of Russia, Kursk, Russia; e-mail: bratov45@mail.ru

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