Figure 1

Increased mortality of VDR KO mice following DSS administration. A) Survival curves in VDR KO and WT mice induced to develop DSS colitis. VDR KO mice died following 2.5% or 3.5% DSS treatment while all of the WT mice survived regardless of DSS concentrations. B) BW recovery over time post-DSS treatment. Mice were treated with 2.5% DSS for 5 days. VDR KO mice failed to recover BW following cessation of DSS. C) Colon length at day 0 (control-CTRL), day 5 and day 10 of DSS-exposure in WT and VDR KO mice. D) VDR KO mice were administered 0.5%–2% and WT mice received 1–2% DSS (n = 5/group). BW changes were monitored, and the values are expressed as the percentage of original BW. *Values from VDR KO mice were significantly different than corresponding values from WT mice. ** WT day 10 colon lengths were significantly longer than WT day 5 colon lengths.