Модуляція активності β-дефензинового захисту в дітей

Abstract

Background. At the present stage, vitamin D and calcium deficiency among children becomes global as well as the risk of infectious diseases caused by this pathology. Purpose: to study the effect of the combined use of vitamin D and calcium supplements on the level of DEFB4A in the oropharyngeal secretion and the health of young children. Materials and methods. We conducted a study of the effect of the drug Kalcyker in young children on the level of DEFB4A in the oropharyngeal secretion, the status of vitamin D, the serum level of calcium. The basic group consisted of 30 clinically healthy young children, who received Kalcyker 2.5 ml 3 times a day for 2 months. Results. After a course of Kalcyker, young children experienced a significant increase in the serum concentration of calcium (Student’s t-test = 2.01; p = 0.05) and a tendency to increase the level of vitamin D from 32.4 ± 1.9 ng/ml to 37.4 ± 1.7 ng/ml (Student’s t-test = 1.96; p = 0.0658). The content of DEFB4A in the oropharyngeal secretion in young children significantly increased from 28.9 ± 2.3 pg/ml to 58.9 ± 4.7 pg/ml (Student’s t-test = 5.73; p = 0.000001). Based on the follow-up findings (after 6 months), it was found that in children older than one year the number of acute respiratory infections decreased significantly (from 4.5 to 2.3 cases per year) and the percentage of complications due to respiratory diseases significantly reduced. Conclusions. The combination of vitamin D and calcium carbonate is highly effective in maintaining and restoring the required level of calcium in young children and is not accompanied by a risk of developing hypercalcemia. The two-month use of Kalcyker contributes to a significant increase in the concentration of defensin DEFB4A in the oropharyngeal secretion and prevents the development of acute respiratory infections.

Keywords

• vitamin d
• calcium
• β-defensin
• children