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 LD(50) of naïve mice in response to Listeria. To study the adaptive immune response, the LD(50) for Listeria‐immunized mice was determined for vitamin D‐deficient and vitamin D‐sufficient mice. Although the LD(50) 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.