Association between vitamin D levels and inflammatory activity in brain death: A prospective study

Vitamin D insufficiency is linked to several common inflammatory disorders. Brain death (BD) causes a massive catecholamine release, leading to intense inflammatory activity. We aimed to evaluate vitamin D serum levels in brain-dead individuals in comparison to critically ill patients without BD to assess the correlation between vitamin D and cytokine levels. Sixteen brain-dead patients and 32 critically ill controls were prospectively enrolled. Blood samples from 25 brain-dead patients from a previous study were also used for vitamin D quantification. Plasma TNF, IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IFN-γ and serum vitamin D levels were compared using Student's t-test or one-way ANOVA. Spearman's test was used to assess the correlation between vitamin D and cytokine levels. Mean vitamin D levels were 16.4 ± 7.9 ng/mL, with 52 patients (71.2%) classified as vitamin D deficient (serum levels