title: High-provitamin A carotenoid (Orange) maize increases hepatic vitamin A reserves of offspring in a vitamin A-depleted sow-piglet model during lactation.
abstract: The relationship of dietary vitamin A transfer from mother to fetus is not well understood. The difference in swine offspring liver reserves was investigated between single-dose vitamin A provided to the mother post-conception compared with continuous provitamin A carotenoid dietary intake from biofortified (enhanced provitamin A) orange maize (OM) fed during gestation and lactation. Vitamin A-depleted sows were fed OM (n = 5) or white maize (WM) + 1.05 mmol retinyl palmitate administered at the beginning of gestation (n = 6). Piglets (n = 102) were killed at 0, 10, 20, and 28 d after birth. Piglets from sows fed OM had higher liver retinol reserves (P < 0.0001) and a combined mean concentration from d 10 to 28 of 0.11 ± 0.030 μmol/g. Piglets from sows fed WM had higher serum retinol concentrations (0.56 ± 0.25 μmol/L; P = 0.0098) despite lower liver retinol concentrations of 0.068 ± 0.026 μmol/g from d 10 to 28. Milk was collected at 0, 5, 10, 20, and 28 d. Sows fed OM had a higher milk retinol concentration (1.36 ± 1.30 μmol/L; P = 0.038), than those fed WM (0.93 ±1.03 μmol/L). Sow livers were collected at the end of the study (n = 3/group) and had identical retinol concentrations (0.22 ± 0.05 μmol/g). Consumption of daily provitamin A carotenoids by sows during gestation and lactation increased liver retinol status in weanling piglets, illustrating the potential for provitamin A carotenoid consumption from biofortified staple foods to improve vitamin A reserves. Biofortified OM could have a measurable impact on vitamin A status in deficient populations if widely adopted.
authors.affiliation: Interdepartmental Graduate Program in Nutritional Sciences, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, USA. heying@wisc.edu
authors.forename: Emily K
authors.initials: EK
authors.lastname: Heying
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Grahn
authors.forename: Kevin V
authors.initials: KV
authors.lastname: Pixley
authors.forename: Torbert
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Rocheford
authors.forename: Sherry A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Tanumihardjo
mesh_terms: D000821:Animal Feed / Q000032:analysis; D000818:Animals; D000833:Animals, Suckling; D004032:Diet / Q000662:veterinary*; D004224:Diterpenes; D005260:Female; D007774:Lactation / Q000187:drug effects*; D008099:Liver / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D008892:Milk; D000084562:Retinyl Esters; D013552:Swine; D014801:Vitamin A / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000097:blood; D014802:Vitamin A Deficiency / Q000378:metabolism*; D003313:Zea mays
chemical_list: D004224:Diterpenes; D000084562:Retinyl Esters; D014801:Vitamin A; C014794:retinol palmitate