Fig. 3
From: Developmental vitamin D deficiency increases foetal exposure to testosterone
Expression of steroidogenic genes and comparative methylation of aromatase promoters in male foetal brains. a As a group, DVD-deficiency decreased cytochrome P450 but not the b hydroxyl-steroid dehydrogenases and steroid 5 Alpha-Reductase 1 (S5AR1). Of the individual cytochrome P450s enzymes, aromatase and CYP21A1 were significantly down-regulated in DVD-deficient foetal male brains compared to controls. Data expressed as relative change to control levels. n = 24 control males, n = 21 DVD males. c Diagram depicting the 2 putative promoters of aromatase in the rat brain. Primers were designed for both promoters using a 500 bp sliding window relative to the transcription start site (TSS) in order to identify areas where the methylation levels of the proximal promoter changed when compared to control. d 5 mC levels were significantly higher within aromatase PII promoter in DVD-deficient male brains. n = 4 control males, n = 4 DVD males. Error bars show means SEM (p < 0.05)