title: Vitamin A deficiency impairs vaccine-elicited gastrointestinal immunity.
abstract: Vitamin A deficiency is highly prevalent in much of the developing world, where vaccination programs are of paramount importance to public health. However, the impact of vitamin A deficiency on the immunogenicity and protective efficacy of vaccines has not been defined previously. In this article, we show that the vitamin A metabolite retinoic acid is critical for trafficking of vaccine-elicited T lymphocytes to the gastrointestinal mucosa and for vaccine protective efficacy in mice. Moderate vitamin A deficiency abrogated Ag-specific T lymphocyte trafficking to the gastrointestinal tract, gastrointestinal cellular immune responses, and protection against a mucosal challenge following immunization with a recombinant adenovirus vaccine vector. Oral vitamin A supplementation as well as retinoic acid administration fully restored the mucosal immune responses and vaccine protective efficacy. These data suggest that oral vitamin A supplementation may be important for optimizing the success of vaccines against HIV-1 and other mucosal pathogens in the developing world, highlighting a critical relationship between host nutritional status and vaccine efficacy.
authors.affiliation: Division of Vaccine Research, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA 02215, USA.
authors.forename: David R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Kaufman
authors.forename: Jaime
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: De Calisto
authors.forename: Nathaniel L
authors.initials: NL
authors.lastname: Simmons
authors.forename: Ashley N
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Cruz
authors.forename: Eduardo J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Villablanca
authors.forename: J Rodrigo
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Mora
authors.forename: Dan H
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Barouch
mesh_terms: D016915:AIDS Vaccines / Q000276:immunology* / Q000494:pharmacology; D000256:Adenoviridae; D000818:Animals; D002465:Cell Movement / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology; D005753:Gastric Mucosa / Q000276:immunology*; D018928:Immunity, Mucosal / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D007413:Intestinal Mucosa / Q000276:immunology*; D051379:Mice; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D014802:Vitamin A Deficiency / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D016915:AIDS Vaccines