. 2014 May 13;59(4):493–500. doi: 10.1093/cid/ciu349

Table 2.

Associations Between Vitamin D Status and Fungal Burden, Immune Responses, and Rate of Clearance of Infection in Patients With Cryptococcal Meningitis

Variable	Vitamin D>50 nmol/L	Vitamin D≤50 nmol/L	P Value	β Coefficient^a	P Value
Baseline fungal burden, log₁₀ CFU/mL	5.0 (4.6–5.3)	5.1 (4.8–5.3)	.687	0.07 (−.32 to .47)	.702
CSF lymphocytes, ×10⁶/L^b	19 (1–67)	15 (1–88)	.896	−39 (−93 to 14)	.148
CSF TNF-α, log₁₀ pg/mL	0.81 (.70–.92)	0.84 (.76–0.92)	.697	−0.09 (−.21 to .03)	.148
CSF IFN-γ, log₁₀ pg/mL	1.61 (1.41–1.81)	1.62 (1.49–1.74)	.988	−0.09 (−.30 to .11)	.374
CSF IL-6, log₁₀ pg/mL	2.28 (1.84–2.72)	2.43 (2.19–2.69)	.540	−0.26 (−.68 to .17)	.231
CSF sCD14, log₁₀ pg/mL	6.02 (5.91–6.11)	6.02 (5.97–6.09)	.834	0.03 (−.07 to .12)	.596
CSF neopterin, log₁₀ pg/mL	1.85 (1.75–1.95)	1.90 (1.82–1.95)	.522	−0.05 (−.16 to .06)	.366
CSF IFN-γ:sCD14 ratio	0.25 (.21–.29)	0.26 (.23–.28)	.788	−0.02 (−.05 to .02)	.309
CSF IFN-γ:neopterin ratio	0.82 (.68–.97)	0.82 (.74–.90)	.914	−0.04 (−.17 to .08)	.497
Early fungicidal activity, log₁₀ CFU/mL/d	−0.56 (−0.46 to −0.66)	−0.56 (−.51 to −0.60)	.847	−0.02 (−.09 to .06)	.701

Data are presented as means and 95% confidence intervals for the vitamin D–deficient and vitamin D–nondeficient groups.

Abbreviations: CFU, colony-forming units; CSF, cerebrospinal fluid; IFN, interferon; IL, interleukin; sCD14, soluble CD14; TNF, tumor necrosis factor; vitamin D, 25-hydroxyvitamin D.

^a The β coefficients are from linear regression analyses where the clinical and immunological parameters were considered individually as dependent variables, and 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels (log transformed) were considered as the explanatory variable. The coefficients shown thus represent the average increase in the dependent variable for each single unit increase (log₁₀ nmol/L) in 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration.

^b Heavily positively skewed; median values with interquartile ranges are shown.