A very interesting study, which not only provides a viable alternative to people with severe bacterial infections and the resulting sepsis (COVID-19 anyone?), but also demonstrated a direct antibacterial effect of the vitamin combo that was comparable to the effects of the antibiotic (doxycycline). Vitamin D has been getting pretty bad press recently, just like aspirin, and it all started during the pandemic, when medicine realized that vitamin D may become a viable treatment for such conditions and thus threaten the sales of the expensive (and highly toxic) antiviral therapies such as Remdesivir. Despite the study claiming that the vitamin D doses were high, that was not at all the case. The human equivalent doses for vitamin D that works best in the study were about 1,000 IU and 2,000 IU daily, combined with a human-equivalent dose of 35mg/kg vitamin E daily. That vitamin E dose is indeed hefty, but even higher doses have been used in humans without serious side effects. In addition, most studies use vitamin E in the form of the cheap synthetic and racemic ester dl-alpha-tocopheryl acetate, which has only about 25% of the activity of d-alpha-tocopherol or mixed unesterified d-isomers of all 4 tocopherols. That means the effective dose if using the natural vitamin E could be as low as 8.75mg/kg, which translates to about 700mg-800mg vitamin E daily. That dose happens to be the most the human organism can absorb in a 24-hour period and is often used by people even when supplementing (instead of being clinically treated).
https://doi.org/10.3897/pharmacia.72.e162155
https://pharmacia.pensoft.net/article/162155/
“…Remarkably, no bacterial growth was observed in any of the treatment groups, including the positive control (C, doxycycline 9 mg/kg BW), the combination therapy group (D, doxycycline + vitamin D3 36 IU/kg BW + vitamin E 250 mg/kg BW), and all groups treated with vitamins D3 and E alone at varying doses (E–G). This indicates that both standard antibiotic therapy and vitamin-based interventions were effective in eliminating bacterial presence from the bloodstream. The absence of bacterial colonies in vitamin D3- and E-treated groups suggests a significant antimicrobial effect, particularly at higher vitamin D3 doses. Vitamin D3 is known to upregulate antimicrobial peptides such as cathelicidin and defensins, which disrupt bacterial membranes and enhance immune clearance (White 2022). Additionally, vitamin E’s antioxidant properties support immune function by protecting leukocytes from oxidative damage, thereby facilitating a more effective immune response (Hashem et al. 2021; Rusip et al. 2022). These findings are in agreement with previous studies reporting that vitamin D supplementation improves infection outcomes in sepsis (Quraishi et al. 2015), while Hartmann et al. (2020) highlighted the antibacterial and immunoprotective role of vitamin E. The comparable results between vitamin-only and doxycycline-treated groups suggest that vitamins D3 and E, especially in combination, could serve as potential adjunct therapies in bacterial sepsis management.”
“…The combination of vitamin D3 and vitamin E, particularly at higher doses (72 and 144 IU/kg BW of vitamin D3 with 250 mg/kg BW of vitamin E), demonstrated statistically significant improvements (p < 0.05) in reducing leukocyte counts, pro-inflammatory biomarkers (TNF-α, IL-6, procalcitonin, and CRP), and liver and kidney function markers (SGOT, SGPT, creatinine, and urea) in Staphylococcus aureus-induced sepsis in rats. These effects were comparable to the doxycycline-treated group, indicating strong immunomodulatory, hepatoprotective, and nephroprotective properties. These preliminary findings suggest that vitamin D3 and vitamin E (α-tocopherol), particularly at higher doses, may hold potential as supplementary agents in the management of Staphylococcus aureus-induced sepsis. However, further well-powered studies are required to confirm these effects before clinical application can be recommended.”
