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Effect of maternal vitamin-A administration on fetal lung vitamin-A stores in the perinatal rat
1Department of Pediatrics, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tenn.
Insights
Maternal vitamin A (retinol) supplementation during pregnancy effectively increases vitamin A stores in fetal and neonatal rat lungs. This strategy enhances lung vitamin A levels, potentially improving respiratory health in offspring.
Area of Science:
- Perinatal nutrition
- Developmental biology
- Respiratory medicine
Background:
- Vitamin A (retinol) is crucial for developing respiratory epithelium and preventing lung injury.
- Fetal lungs store significant vitamin A, making premature infants vulnerable to deficiency.
- Augmenting fetal lung vitamin A via maternal administration is a potential but unproven strategy.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if maternal vitamin A administration increases vitamin A stores in offspring lungs.
- To assess the feasibility and duration of elevated lung vitamin A levels in neonates.
Main Methods:
- Pregnant rats received a single intragastric dose of vitamin A (retinyl palmitate) or saline on gestational day 16.
- Vitamin A and ester concentrations in fetal and neonatal lungs and livers were measured using high-performance liquid chromatography.
- Measurements were taken from gestational day 17 through postnatal day 14.
Main Results:
- Maternal vitamin A administration significantly increased lung vitamin A ester concentrations in fetuses and newborns (1.7- to 7.1-fold).
- Elevated lung vitamin A levels were observed within 24 hours of maternal dosing.
- These increased concentrations persisted for the entire 14-day postnatal observation period.
Conclusions:
- Maternal vitamin A supplementation is an effective method to augment vitamin A stores in the developing fetal and neonatal lung.
- This approach offers a promising strategy to potentially mitigate risks associated with vitamin A deficiency in vulnerable newborns.
- The sustained increase in lung vitamin A suggests long-term benefits for neonatal respiratory health.
Abstract:
Vitamin A (retinol) is essential for normal differentiation and integrity of developing respiratory epithelium and its deficiency has been linked to an increased susceptibility to lung injury. Because significant vitamin-A storage occurs in the fetal lung near term in the perinatal rat, prematurely born animals deprived of adequate stores in their lungs may be susceptible to the adverse effects of vitamin-A deficiency. It would be desirable if lung vitamin-A stores could be augmented with maternal administration, but the feasibility of this strategy has not been reported. We therefore conducted this study in rats to determine whether maternal administration of vitamin A could increase the lung stores of vitamin A in the offspring. Vitamin-A-sufficient pregnant rats were given a single dose of either vitamin A (50,000 IU retinyl palmitate) or 0.9% saline solution on gestational day 16 (term = 21 days) by the intragastric route. High-performance liquid chromatography was used to measure concentrations of vitamin A and its esters in fetal and neonatal lungs and livers at times ranging from gestational day 17 through 21, and from postnatal day 1 through 14. The concentrations of vitamin-A esters in the lungs of fetuses and newborn pups of the vitamin-A-treated animals were significantly (1.7- to 7.1-fold) higher than those of the control group. This increase in the lung vitamin-A ester concentrations was seen within 24 h of maternal administration and persisted throughout the 14-day postnatal period.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)