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Abstract

We investigated the effect of dietary vitamin D3 on T helper-related activities and progress of lupus in NZB/NZW F1 mice. Mice were fed with 0.4 or 2 μg vitamin D3 dissolved in 50 μL olive oil every other day. Expression of T cell-related cytokine genes including those of IL-2, IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-10, IL-12 and IFN-γ was monitored during the disease course by semi-quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). In addition, total serum IgG1 and IgG2a and anti-dsDNA antibody were measured. We observed a prolonged survival of mice receiving 2μg of vitamin D3 as compared with control mice. However, vitamin D3 did not significantly affect the anti-DNA antibody formation, IgG subtype proportion, or cytokine expression profile.

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