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Journal of Undergraduate Research

Keywords

adjuvant effect, vitamin D3, mucosal immune response

College

Life Sciences

Department

Microbiology and Molecular Biology

Abstract

Because skin provides an effective physical barrier, most pathogens that invade the body do so at mucosal sites like the nose and mouth. As such, finding methods of improving mucosal immunity is key to providing greater defense against communicable diseases, the cause of approximately one-quarter of all deaths worldwide [1]. Improving vaccination, the technique in which the body is exposed to a weakened or nonvirulent dosage of a pathogen or toxin to promote an immune response specific to that foreign material, is a potential way of enhancing mucosal immunity. Vaccination has been used for several decades in medicine, nearly eradicating diseases like polio and reducing the impact of several others. Despite much success, however, the development of more effective vaccination strategies is necessary to protect against the pathogens that still cause much sickness and death. In particular, vaccines that specifically enhance the immune response in mucosal tissues, where nearly all germs enter the body, are in high demand. For example, vaccines capable of directing immunity to the lungs to resist influenza or to the small intestine to resist rotavirus would be powerfully effective in protecting against these diseases.

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