Gene expression profiles of mesenterial adipose tissue of newborn rats from dams that were either fed a vitamin D adequate (1,000 IU vitamin D/kg diet) or a vitamin D deficient diet (0 IU vitamin D/kg diet)

The aim of the study was to investigate the role of vitamin D on adipocyte development. To this end, rat dams (Sprague-Dawley rats ) were fed diets with 0 or 1,000 IU vitamin D3 per kg diet 5 weeks prior to conception until the end of lactation. By using high-density DNA microarrays, we analyzed the gene-expression profile of mesenterial adipose tissue of both groups of newborn rats. RNA was extracted from mesenterial adipose tissue and analyzed with Affymetrix GeneChip Rat Genome 230 2.0 Array