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International Immunology Advance Access originally published online on December 15, 2008
International Immunology 2009 21(2):113-122; doi:10.1093/intimm/dxn129
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© The Japanese Society for Immunology. 2008. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Elevated non-specific immunity and normal Listeria clearance in young and old vitamin D receptor knockout mice

Danny Bruce1, James P. Whitcomb2, Avery August1, Mary Ann McDowell2 and Margherita T. Cantorna1

1 Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Science, Center for Immunology and Infectious Disease, Pathobiology Graduate Program, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA
2 Eck Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA

Correspondence to: M. T. Cantorna; E-mail: mxc69{at}psu.edu

1,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D3 [1,25(OH)2D3] and the vitamin D receptor (VDR) are important regulators of autoimmunity. The effect of the VDR on the ability of mice to fight a primary or secondary infection has not been determined. Young and old VDR knockout (KO) mice were able to clear both primary and secondary infections with Listeria monocytogenes. However, the kinetics of clearance was somewhat delayed in the absence of the VDR. Memory T cell development was not different in young VDR KO and wild-type (WT) mice; however, old VDR KO mice had significantly less memory T cells than their WT counterparts but still mounted an adequate immune response as determined by the complete clearance of L. monocytogenes. Although the primary and secondary immune responses were largely intact in the VDR KO mice, the old VDR KO mice had increased cytokines and antibody responses compared with the old WT mice. In particular, old VDR KO mice had elevated antigen non-specific antibodies; however, these magnified immune responses did not correspond to more effective Listeria clearance. The increased antibody and cytokine responses in the old VDR KO mice are consistent with the increased susceptibility of these mice to autoimmunity.

Keywords: aging, antibodies, 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3, Listeria monocytogenes

Transmitting editor: S. M. Hedrick

Received 31 July 2008, accepted 12 November 2008.


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