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[Effect of maternal vitamin D deficiency on lung morphogenesis and platelet-derived growth factor-A expression in rat
Hai-Yan Gu1, De-Yu Zhao, Quan Wang
1Department of Respiration, Nanjing Children's Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210008, China.
Insights
Maternal vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy impairs fetal and neonatal rat lung development, leading to smaller alveolar spaces and reduced platelet-derived growth factor-A (PDGF-A) expression. This suggests PDGF-A may play a role in vitamin D
Area of Science:
- Developmental Biology
- Nutritional Science
- Respiratory Medicine
Context:
- Maternal nutrition significantly impacts fetal development.
- Vitamin D is crucial for various physiological processes, including growth and development.
- Lung development is a complex process sensitive to environmental and nutritional factors.
Purpose:
- To investigate the effects of maternal vitamin D deficiency on lung morphogenesis in rat offspring.
- To assess the impact of maternal vitamin D deficiency on platelet-derived growth factor-A (PDGF-A) expression in developing rat lungs.
Summary:
- Maternal vitamin D deficiency in Sprague-Dawley rats resulted in smaller alveolar spaces, thicker alveolar mesenchyme, and altered lamellar body formation in fetal and neonatal lungs.
- Significantly lower messenger RNA (mRNA) and protein levels of PDGF-A were observed in the lungs of offspring from vitamin D-deficient mothers.
- These findings indicate that vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy may inhibit lung development and reduce PDGF-A expression.
Impact:
- Highlights a potential link between maternal vitamin D status and offspring lung health.
- Suggests that reduced PDGF-A expression may mediate the adverse effects of vitamin D deficiency on lung development.
- Provides insights into the mechanisms by which nutritional deficiencies can impact respiratory system development.
Objective:
To study the effect of maternal vitamin D deficiency on lung morphogenesis and platelet-derived growth factor-A (PDGF-A) expression in rat offspring.
Methods:
Sprague-Dawley (SD) female rats were randomly divided into two groups: normal control and vitamin D deficiency, with 6 rats in each group. The vitamin D deficiecy group was kept away from light and fed with the forage without vitamin D. After 2 weeks, the rats were mated with normal SD male rats. The morphological changes of fetal rat lungs on day 20 of gestation and 1-day-old neonatal rat lungs were observed by light microscope and electronic microscope. The levels of PDGF-A mRNA and protein in fetal and neonatal rat lungs were measured by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) technique and Western blot method respectively.
Results:
Under the light microscope, smaller alveolar space, smaller diameter of the respiratory membrane and thicker alveolus mesenchyma were observed in lungs of fetal and neonatal rats from the vitamin D deficiency group compared with the controls (P<0.05). Under the electronic microscope, fewer lamellar bodies but more glycogen deposition in intracytoplasm were observed in the lungs of fetal rats from the vitamin D deficiency group compared with the controls. There was an increased number of empty lamellar bodies in neonatal rats from the vitamin D deficiency group. The levels of PDGF-A mRNA and protein in lungs of fetal and neonatal rats from the vitamin D deficiency group were significantly lower than the controls (P<0.05).
Conclusions:
Maternal vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy may inhibit the development of lung morphogenesis and PDGF-A expression in late fetal and neonatal rats. The low expression of PDGF-A may be involved in the inhibitory effect of vitamin D deficiency on the lung development.
