Table 5.

Plasma concentrations of D vitamers and α-tocopherol of mice fed diets with UVB-treated (WGO-UV) and vitamin D₃-supplemented wheat germ oil (WGO-D₃) compared with those fed the diet with non-treated wheat germ oil (WGO) for 4 weeks.

Diet	WGO	WGO-UV	WGO-D3	P values
Ergosterol (nmol/l)	<LLOQ	<LLOQ	<LLOQ	–
7-DHC (nmol/l)	85.9 ± 18.8	83.3 ± 18.2	90.2 ± 28.8	n. s.
Vitamin D2 (nmol/l)	0.55b,d ± 0.38	16.8a ± 2.5	0.50b,d ± 0.40	<0.001
Vitamin D3 (nmol/l)	0.36c,d ± 0.28	1.44b ± 1.34	20.5a ± 3.9	<0.001
Total vitamin D (nmol/l)	0.55c,d ± 0.38	16.8b ± 2.5	20.5a ± 3.9	<0.001
α-Tocopherol (μg/ml)	27.8 ± 3.8	29.9 ± 9.9	28.1 ± 5.9	n. s.

Data represent means ± SD, n = 12.

WGO, 10% wheat germ oil; WGO-UV, 10% UVB-exposed wheat germ oil; WGO-D₃, 10% wheat germ oil supplemented with vitamin D₃; 7-DHC, 7-dehydrocholesterol; LLOQ, lower limit of quantification); n. s., not significant.

^a–cMeans not sharing a superscript letter are significantly different (P < 0.05, Mann–Whitney U test).

^dValues were below the LLOQ (1.25 nmol/l).