Figure 1.

Administration of 1,25(OH)₂D₃ is protective against active, but not passive, EAE. B10.PLxC57BL/6 hosts were seeded with 2.5 × 10⁶ Tg4.CD45.1 CD4⁺ T cells prior to immunization for EAE induction with MBP peptide. 1,25(OH)₂D₃ (200 ng) (n = 14) or vehicle (n = 15) was administered as described in Section “Materials and Methods.” (A) Disease course. (B) Four mice in each group were sacrificed at day 13 for flow cytometric analysis of total CD4+ T cells, and donor CD4+CD45.1+ T cells. Cell percentages were compared by a Mann–Whitney U test. Results shown are pooled from two independent experiments. EAE was induced in B10.PL hosts by transfer of 3 × 10⁶ Tg4.CD45.1 effector T cells. Mice received 1,25(OH)₂D₃ (n = 13) or vehicle (n = 12) as described in Section “Materials and Methods.” (C) Clinical EAE course. (D) Five vehicle and four 1,25(OH)₂D₃-treated mice were sacrificed at day 18 post T cell transfer for flow cytometric analysis of total CD4+ T cells, and donor CD4+CD45.1+ T cells. Cell numbers and percentages were compared by a Mann–Whitney U test. Results shown are pooled from two independent experiments.