Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT: Background
Vitamin A (VA) plays critical roles in prenatal and postnatal development; however, limited information is available regarding maternal VA metabolism during pregnancy and lactation.Objectives
We investigated the impact of pregnancy and lactation on VA metabolism and kinetics in rats, hypothesizing that changes in physiological status would naturally perturb whole-body VA kinetics.Methods
Eight-week old female rats (n = 10) fed an AIN-93G diet received an oral tracer dose of 3H-labeled retinol to initiate the kinetic study. On d 21 after dosing, six female rats were mated. Serial blood samples were collected from each female rat at selected times after dose administration until d 14 of lactation. Model-based compartmental analysis was applied to the plasma tracer data to develop VA kinetic models.Results
Our compartmental model revealed that pregnancy resulted in a gradual increase in hepatic VA mobilization, presumably to support different stages of fetal development. Additionally, the model indicates that during lactation, VA derived from dietary intake was the primary source of VA delivered to the mammary gland for milk VA secretion.Conclusion
During pregnancy and lactation in rats with an adequate VA intake and previous VA storage, the internal redistribution of VA and increased uptake from diet supported the maintenance of VA homeostasis.
SUBMITTER: Li Y
PROVIDER: S-EPMC8401525 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature