ArticlePloS one2014
Vitamin A supplementation in early life enhances the intestinal immune response of rats with gestational vitamin A deficiency by increasing the number of immune cells.
Article in PloS one, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers.
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Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 21 citations in OpenAlex.
- Fat-soluble Vitamins and Lung Cancer: Where We Are?Recent patents on anti-cancer drug discovery · 2025Review
- Apoptosis in the Mammary Gland of Virgin Rats Subchronically Fed With a Vitamin A Deficient Diet.Oxidative medicine and cellular longevity · 2025Article
- Vitamin A deficiency suppresses CEACAM1 to impair colonic epithelial barrier function via downregulating microbial-derived short-chain fatty acids.Genes & diseases · 2024Article
- Association Between Nutrients and Cardiovascular Diseases.Current cardiology reviews · 2024Review
- Cross talk between the gut microbiome and host immune response in ulcerative colitis: nonpharmacological strategies to improve homeostasis.American journal of physiology. Gastrointestinal and liver physiology · 2022Review
- Article
- Vitamin A deficiency increases the risk of gastrointestinal comorbidity and exacerbates core symptoms in children with autism spectrum disorder.Pediatric research · 2021Article
- Review
- Marginal Vitamin A Deficiency Exacerbates Memory Deficits Following Aβ1-42 Injection in Rats.Current Alzheimer research · 2017Article
- Mucosal Interactions between Genetics, Diet, and Microbiome in Inflammatory Bowel Disease.Frontiers in immunology · 2016Review
- Influence of nutrient-derived metabolites on lymphocyte immunity.Nature medicine · 2015Review
- Induction of cellular and molecular immunomodulatory pathways by vitamin A and flavonoids.Expert opinion on biological therapy · 2015Review
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Authors and funding
11 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Vitamin A is a critical micronutrient for regulating immunity in many organisms. Our previous study demonstrated that gestational or early-life vitamin A deficiency decreases the number of immune cells in offspring. The present study aims to test whether vitamin A supplementation can restore lymphocyte pools in vitamin A-deficient rats and thereby improve the function of their intestinal mucosa; furthermore, the study aimed to identify the best time frame for vitamin A supplementation. Vitamin A-deficient pregnant rats or their offspring were administered a low-dose of vitamin A daily for 7 days starting on gestational day 14 or postnatal day 1, day 14 or day 28. Serum retinol concentrations increased significantly in all four groups that received vitamin A supplementation, as determined by high-performance liquid chromatography. The intestinal levels of secretory immunoglobulin A and polymeric immunoglobulin receptor increased significantly with lipopolysaccharide challenge in the rats that received vitamin A supplementation starting on postnatal day 1. The rats in this group had higher numbers of CD8+ intestinal intraepithelial lymphocytes, CD11C+ dendritic cells in the Peyer's patches and CD4+CD25+ T cells in the spleen compared with the vitamin A-deficient rats; flow cytometric analysis also demonstrated that vitamin A supplementation decreased the number of B cells in the mesenteric lymph nodes. Additionally, vitamin A supplementation during late gestation increased the numbers of CD8+ intestinal intraepithelial lymphocytes and decreased the numbers of B lymphocytes in the mesenteric lymph nodes. However, no significant differences in lymphocyte levels were found between the rats in the other two vitamin A supplement groups and the vitamin A-deficient group. In conclusion, the best recovery of a subset of lymphocytes in the offspring of gestational vitamin A-deficient rats and the greatest improvement in the intestinal mucosal immune response are achieved when vitamin A supplementation occurs during the early postnatal period.
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