TY - JOUR AU - Heulens, Nele AU - Korf, Hannelie AU - Cielen, Nele AU - De Smidt, Elien AU - Maes, Karen AU - Gysemans, Conny AU - Verbeken, Erik AU - Gayan-Ramirez, Ghislaine AU - Mathieu, Chantal AU - Janssens, Wim PY - 2015 DA - 2015/09/16 TI - Vitamin D deficiency exacerbates COPD-like characteristics in the lungs of cigarette smoke-exposed mice JO - Respiratory Research SP - 110 VL - 16 IS - 1 AB - Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is characterized by excessive inflammation and disturbed bacterial clearance in the airways. Although cigarette smoke (CS) exposure poses a major risk, vitamin D deficiency could potentially contribute to COPD progression. Many in vitro studies demonstrate important anti-inflammatory and antibacterial effects of vitamin D, but a direct contribution of vitamin D deficiency to COPD onset and disease progression has not been explored. SN - 1465-993X UR - https://doi.org/10.1186/s12931-015-0271-x DO - 10.1186/s12931-015-0271-x ID - Heulens2015 ER -