The effect of vitamin A deficiency in maternal rats on tumor formation in filial rats.
OBJECTIVE
We established a vitamin A-deficient (VAD) model of pregnant rats to evaluate the effect of vitamin A deficiency in maternal rats on tumor formation in filial rats.


METHODS
Ten pregnant Wistar rats were divided into 2 groups: (1) VAD group, 6 rats were given nonvitamin A diet from 2 weeks before mating till delivery and (2) normal diet (ND) group, 4 rats were given normal diet. Twenty random neonatal rats from each group were killed on the next day of delivery. The rest neonates were given normal diet for 1 year until killed. Serum levels of vitamin A, morphology of the kidney, incidence of tumor formation, and retinoid X receptor (RXR) alpha messenger RNA (mRNA) expression in renal tissue were assessed for the filial rats.


RESULTS
Fifty-six and 49 neonatal rats were born for VAD group and ND group, respectively. The detection rate of nephrogenic rests (NRs) from neonates in VAD group (50%) was significantly higher than that in ND group (20%; P < .05). The incidence of nephroblastoma was 13.9% in filial rats of VAD group and 0% for ND group. The detection rate of NRs for filial rats of VAD group (30.6%) was significantly higher than that of ND group (6.9%; P < .01). The expression of RXRalpha mRNA in tumor tissue of the filial rats of VAD group (3.17 +/- 0.15) was significantly lower than that in kidney tissue of ND group (3.58 +/- 0.20; P < .01).


CONCLUSIONS
Deficiency in vitamin A for pregnant rats resulted in renal dysplasia, increased NRs, and higher incidence of nephroblastoma.
Li
Kai
K
Department of Pediatric Surgery, Children's Hospital of Fudan University, 399 Wanyuan Road, 201102 Shanghai, PR, China.
Zeng
Shuqi
S
Gao
Jiechun
J
Chen
Lian
L
Wang
Ying
Y
D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D004032:Diet; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005260:Female; D007678:Kidney Glomerulus / Q000473:pathology; D007680:Kidney Neoplasms / Q000196:embryology / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D007684:Kidney Tubules / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects / Q000503:physiopathology; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D047488:Retinoid X Receptors / Q000378:metabolism; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D014802:Vitamin A Deficiency / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D009396:Wilms Tumor / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000196:embryology / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology
D047488:Retinoid X Receptors