Vitamin A Deficiency during the Perinatal Period and First Weeks of Life Modifies Vitamin A and Lipid Postprandial Metabolism in Both Female and Male Young Rats

Scope: The effect of vitamin A deficiency on vitamin A and lipid postprandial metabolism in young rats is addressed, considering the effect of sex.

Methods and results: Sprague-Dawley rats are fed either 400 UI.kg^-1 vitamin A diet (vitamin A-deficient (VAD) diet) or 2300 UI.kg^-1 vitamin A (control diet), before being mated. Mothers receive the same VAD or control diet during gestation and lactation. Offspring receive the same diet than mothers until 8 weeks of age. VAD diet-fed female and male offspring display a severe vitamin A deficiency with no body weight or glucose tolerance defects. Fasting plasma triglyceride concentrations are decreased in VAD diet-fed animals compared to controls (p < 0.05). Retinyl ester postprandial responses after vitamin A gavage, expressed as area under the curves, are not different in VAD diet-fed and control animals, although retinyl ester postprandial peak is significantly delayed (p < 0.05) in VAD diet-fed rats. Lipids also accumulate in the distal part of the intestine after gavage and [1-¹³ C]-oleate postprandial response is decreased in VAD diet-fed males.

Conclusion: Vitamin A deficiency modulates both vitamin A absorption rate and lipid postprandial metabolism, which can partly explain the altered fasting lipid status observed in VAD diet-fed offspring.