Fig. 2

Maternal VitD deficiency reduces the levels of serum 25(OH) D in the mothers and offspring mice, regardless of inducing allergic airway inflammation. Female BALB/c mice at 4–6 weeks of age were randomized and fed with normal chow as the control or VitD deficient diet as the (VitD-) for 4 weeks before mating, throughout the gestational period and up to the weaning of their offspring mice. a The levels of serum 25(OH) D were measured. The offspring mice were randomized and injected with PBS or HDM to induce allergic airway inflammation. b The levels of serum 25(OH) D in individual mice were measured. Data are expressed as the mean values of individual mice in each group (n = 8) from three separate experiments. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001