Fig. 8
From: Vitamin D and allergic airway disease shape the murine lung microbiome in a sex-specific manner
Vitamin D deficiency reduced ß-defensin-2 (mBD2) protein levels in the BALF of naïve mice. Female BALB/c mice (dams) were fed vitamin D-containing (VitD+) or vitamin D-null (VitD-) diets from 3 weeks of age and used to produce offspring. A subgroup of the vitamin D-deficient offspring was fed a vitamin D-supplemented diet from 8 weeks of age (VitD− to VitD+). ß-defensin-2 protein levels were determined in the BALF (a) (n = 10 mice/treatment) and serum (b) (n ≥ 3 mice/treatment) of naïve mice (mean + SEM) (*p < 0.05, the broken line indicates the level of detection (LOD) for ß-defensin-2; 3 pg/ml)