Vitamin D is not required for adaptive immunity to listeria

Although ex vivo research suggests that vitamin D may play a role in innate and adaptive immunity, clear in vivo evidence is lacking. We have tested whether severe vitamin D deficiency alters the ability of mice to resist infection by Listeria. Our results show that vitamin D deficiency does not affect the LD₅₀ of naïve mice in response to Listeria. To study the adaptive immune response, the LD₅₀ for Listeria-immunized mice was determined for vitamin D-deficient and vitamin D-sufficient mice. Although the LD₅₀ clearly increased by immunization with inactivated Listeria, there was no effect of vitamin D deficiency on survival of mice infected with wild-type Listeria. Thus, in this model of adaptive immunity, we could find no evidence of a role for vitamin D.