Figure 1

Adequate vitamin D3 supply decreases susceptibility to E. coli meningoencephalitis. (A) Survival, (B) weight loss, and (C) clinical score of mice fed diets containing different amounts of vitamin D3 (low (L-VitD), standard (S-VitD) or high (H-VitD) vitamin D supplementation). Meningoencephalitis was induced by injection of 4,000 CFUs of E. coli K1 into the right frontal lobe of the cerebral cortex. Kaplan-Meier curves were compared by log-rank test. Differences in weight loss 24 h after infection are shown as mean and standard deviation (SD) and were analyzed by one-way-ANOVA and corrected for repeated testing with the Bonferroni multiple comparisons test. Clinical scores at 24 h after infection were analyzed using the Kruskal-Wallis test and corrected for repeated testing by the Bonferroni method. Data are shown as box and whiskers with minimum, median and maximum. *P < 0.05.