title: Effect of marginal vitamin A deficiency during pregnancy on retinoic acid receptors and N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor expression in the offspring of rats.
abstract: This study examined whether pregnancy-related marginal vitamin A deficiency (MVAD) influences postnatal development of retinoic acid receptors (RARs) and N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor subunit 1 (NR1) in hippocampus of rat pups. Sixteen female rats were randomized equally into control and MVAD groups. Dams and pups were fed with either a normal control diet or one deficient in vitamin A. Eight female pups in each group were killed at 1 day, 2 weeks, 4 weeks and 8 weeks after birth, respectively. Serum retinol levels were monitored. The messenger RNA (mRNA) and protein expressions and subcellular localization of RARα, RARβ and NR1 in postnatal hippocampus were detected. At 1 day, 2 weeks and 8 weeks after birth, serum retinol levels in the MVAD group were significantly lower than those in the control group. Results of Morris water maze test at 7 weeks of age showed that spatial learning and memory in the MVAD group were affected. Vitamin A deficiency resulted in decreased mRNA levels of RARα, RARβ and NR1 (P<.05). The protein level of RARα and NR1 in the MVAD group was lower than that of the control group (P<.05). There was no significant difference in RARβ between the groups (P>.05). A mass of RARα and NR1 colocalized in hippocampal cell cytoplasm on postnatal day 1. Our data suggested that vitamin A deficiency in pregnancy may affect the postnatal expression of RARα and NR1, affecting learning and memory function in the hippocampus and synaptic plasticity of the calcium signaling pathway.
authors.affiliation: Child Health Care, Children's Hospital, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing 400014, PR China.
authors.forename: Xuan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Ke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: You-xue
authors.initials: YX
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Ping
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Qu
authors.forename: Ting-yu
authors.initials: TY
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000824:Animal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D005260:Female; D018782:Maze Learning; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal; D011247:Pregnancy; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D016194:Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D018168:Receptors, Retinoic Acid / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D000072482:Retinoic Acid Receptor alpha; D014802:Vitamin A Deficiency / Q000150:complications* / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: C409466:NR1 NMDA receptor; D012333:RNA, Messenger; C000607073:Rara protein, rat; D016194:Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate; D018168:Receptors, Retinoic Acid; D000072482:Retinoic Acid Receptor alpha; C082925:retinoic acid receptor beta