Vitamin D Every Day to Keep the Infection Away?

Nutrients

Juliana de Castro Kroner¹  Andrea Sommer¹ 

[1]Department of Dermatology, University of Cologne, 50937 Cologne, Germany

[2] E-Mails:

关键词: Vitamin D;    macrophage;    dendritic cell;    T cell;    infection and immunity;   

DOI  :  10.3390/nu7064170

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Within the last decade, vitamin D has emerged as a central regulator of host defense against infections. In this regard, vitamin D triggers effective antimicrobial pathways against bacterial, fungal and viral pathogens in cells of the human innate immune system. However, vitamin D also mediates potent tolerogenic effects: it is generally believed that vitamin D attenuates inflammation and acquired immunity, and thus potentially limits collateral tissue damage. Nevertheless, several studies indicate that vitamin D promotes aspects of acquired host defense. Clinically, vitamin D deficiency has been associated with an increased risk for various infectious diseases in epidemiological studies; yet, robust data from controlled trials investigating the use of vitamin D as a preventive or therapeutic agent are missing. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge regarding the effect of vitamin D on innate and acquired host defense, and speculate on the difficulties to translate the available molecular medicine data into practical therapeutic or preventive recommendations.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2015 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.