Fig 1: (A) In HUVEC incubated with IL-6, a significant increase of NF-kB levels was observed. Pretreatment of endothelial cells with VitD prevented the IL-6 effects on NF-kB. LPS served as positive control. Each bar represents the mean ± SD of 3 different experiments. (* p < 0.001 vs. Control; ** p < 0.001 vs. IL-6, one-way ANOVA with Tukey’s post hoc test). (B) Western blot analyses. IL-6 stimulation results in significant reduced levels of I?B. Conversely, preincubation with VitD restores I?B levels. LPS served as positive control. Each bar represents the mean ± SD of 3 different experiments. (* p < 0.001 vs. Control; ** p < 0.001 vs. IL-6, one-way ANOVA with Tukey’s post hoc test). The insert shows results of a representative experiment. (C) In HUVEC incubated with IL-6, a significant increase of STAT3 levels was observed. Pretreatment of endothelial cells with VitD prevented the IL-6 effects on STAT3. LPS served as positive control. Each bar represents the mean ± SD of 3 different experiments. (* p < 0.001 vs. Control; ** p < 0.001 vs. IL-6, one-way ANOVA with Tukey’s post hoc test).