title: Vitamin A and immunity to viral, bacterial and protozoan infections.
abstract: Studies in animal models and cell lines show that vitamin A and related retinoids play a major role in immunity, including expression of mucins and keratins, lymphopoiesis, apoptosis, cytokine expression, production of antibody, and the function of neutrophils, natural killer cells, monocytes or macrophages, T lymphocytes and B lymphocytes. Recent clinical trials suggest that vitamin A supplementation reduces morbidity and mortality in different infectious diseases, such as measles, diarrhoeal disease, measles-related pneumonia, human immunodeficiency virus infection and malaria. Immune responses vary considerably during different infections, and the available data suggest that the modulation of immune function by vitamin A may also vary widely, depending on the type of infection and immune responses involved.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA. rdsemba@jhmi.edu
authors.forename: R D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Semba
mesh_terms: D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000276:immunology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000382:microbiology; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000276:immunology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D006801:Humans; D007109:Immunity; D008288:Malaria / Q000276:immunology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D008457:Measles / Q000276:immunology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D014801:Vitamin A / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000502:physiology* / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D014801:Vitamin A