Vitamin D and Innate Immunity

This chapter will examine the role of vitamin D in the innate immune system as a mediator of human host defense mechanisms microbial disease, focusing on tuberculosis. The first section will examine tuberculosis and the innate immune response to the intracellular pathogen, Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tuberculosis), the causative agent of tuberculosis. This is followed by a discussion of the known associations, genetic and mechanistic, between the vitamin D pathway and tuberculosis susceptibility. Finally, the chapter will conclude with a discussion on the potential for adjuvant treatment of tuberculosis with vitamin D.