Vitamin D Induction of the Human Antimicrobial Peptide Cathelicidin in the Urinary Bladder

"The Swedish study found that vitamin D actually induces cathelicidin (an antimicrobial that the body produces) in the urinary bladder -- but only when a boost in the antimcrobial peptide is needed in the face of a threatening infection. The researchers found this out when they analyzed bladder tissue biopsied from postmenopausal women to check for expression of cathelicidin before and after the research volunteers took supplements of vitamin D (in the form of 25-hydroxyvitamin D3) for three months. When the bladder cells were infected with the UTI-causing germ E. coli, the scientists observed a significant increase in cathelicidin expression after vitamin D supplementation."

This means vitamin D has a huge advantage over mainstream medicine's widely prescribed antibiotics for urinary tract infections. That's because when UTIs are treated with antibiotics, the drugs can harm beneficial bacteria in the gut and wreak havoc in the body. But vitamin D only produces germ-killing peptides at the site of an infection when needed, leaving "friendly bacteria" totally unharmed."


PLoS ONE: Vitamin D Induction of the Human Antimicrobial Peptide Cathelicidin in the Urinary Bladder: "Urinary tract infection (UTI) remains an important disease and becomes more frequent in women after menopause. Due to the proximity of the highly colonized perineum, the urinary tract epithelium must be able to sense pathogens and elicit a fast innate immune response in order to keep its integrity [1], [2]. Previously we demonstrated that the human antimicrobial peptide cathelicidin was up-regulated upon E. coli infection and that it significantly contributes to the protection of the urinary tract in humans and in mice [3]. Here, we investigate vitamin D-induced boosting of cathelicidin in the urinary bladder."