Figure 2.

Calcitriol effects on pro-inflammatory cytokine production in peripheral blood T lymphocytes from female and male healthy donors. Cytokine expression was analyzed in 15 female and 15 male healthy subjects by flow cytometry after 48 h of culture with calcitriol and stimulation with phorbol myristate acetate (PMA) and ionomycin in the presence of brefeldin A for the last 16 h of culture, as detailed in Section 4. Results from representative female (upper panels) and male (lower panels) healthy donors are shown (A,C,E). Data are also reported as mean  ±  SD (B,D,F). * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01, *** p < 0.001 versus untreated cells.