Clinical Improvement of Active Tuberculosis Patients with Complex Treatment and Nutritional Supplementation

Abstract

Global incidence of tuberculosis, especially multiple-drug resistant tuberculosis, has been increasing, despite development and use of various antimicrobial drugs for decades, leading to 2 million deaths a year. We evaluated the effect of micronutrient supplementation as an adjunct to standard treatment of patients with active pulmonary tuberculosis, on clinical improvement and frequency of adverse events on 120 patients aged 20 to 65 years diagnosed with active pulmonary tuberculosis at the Kiev Department of Phthisiatry. All participants (Test group) were prescribed standard medication supplemented with vitamin/essential nutrients. A Control group (n=100) of patients recently treated with standard medication alone at this facility were selected by matching to Test patients by stage of disease, confounding conditions, gender, and alcohol consumption. Standard clinical and diagnostic methods were applied to determine baseline values and at the termination of the study. After a two-month period of intensive chemotherapy, cavity healing (primary measure) occurred in 98% of the Test Group, but only in 69% of the Control Group. Furthermore, the Ziehl-Neelson sputum test was negative in 100% of the Test group, but only in 88% of the Control group. Resolution of respiratory compromise was higher in the Test group (87%) than in the Control group (78%). Furthermore, supplementation with vitamin/essential nutrients resulted in a significant decrease in the frequency and severity of adverse events from chemotherapy; only 11% in the Test group experienced adverse events while 46% did so in the Control group. In conclusion, clinical efficacy of chemotherapy was enhanced significantly with adjunctive use of nutrient supplementation. In addition, micronutrient supplementation decreased the frequency and severity of adverse effects from chemotherapy.

Profile of glycated-hemoglobin, antioxidant vitamin and cytokine levels in pulmonary tuberculosis patients: A cross sectional study at Pulmonary Diseases Center Semarang City, Indonesia

“…Previous studies observed that vitamin E was significantly depleted in tuberculosis patients when compared with healthy individuals [21] , [37] . Administration of micronutrients, including vitamin E, has been shown to enhance antioxidant status [35] and accelerate tuberculosis healing [38] . Vitamin E presumably will also give benefit to tuberculosis patients with diabetes.…”

Micronutrient Synergy in the Control of HIV Infection and AIDS

“…These deficits include: (i) specific micronutrient abnormalities such as reduced blood levels of the common ACE vitamins, minerals, trace elements including selenium, amino acids such as cysteine, and the tri-peptide glutathione, which displays a global systemic deficiency; (ii) macronutrient abnormalities such as protein calorie malnutrition, which has been linked to a wasting disease, characteristic of AIDS. Malnutrition has also been linked to the spread of AIDS and TB in developing countries and with reduced survival (Paton et al, 2006, Turchenko et al, 2008 MICRONUTRIENT ABNORMALITIES…”