Vitamin A Deficiency in the Early-Life Periods Alters a Diversity of the Colonic Mucosal Microbiota in Rats

Abstract

Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) remains a public health issue worldwide, affecting pregnant women and children. The early-life microbiota is a potentially effective intervention target for modulating immune and metabolic development of the host. This paper investigates the effects of VAD during different life periods on the structure of the colonic mucosa microbiota in adolescent rats. The results showed that the concentrations of serum retinol were > ~1.05 μmol/L in maternal VA normal (VAN)rats and < 0.7 μmol/L in maternal VAD rats, while the serum retinol levels were higher than 0.7 μmol/L in the pups of the VAN group and below 0.5 μmol/L in the pups of the VAD group. Compared to the offspring persistent with VAN from embryonic stage (group A), all the remaining groups exhibited an increased ratio of Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes abundance. A metagenome analysis (LEfSe) and a differentially abundant features approach using Metastats for genus abundances revealed that Diaphorobacter and Psychrobacter were increased in the offspring persistent with VAD from embryonic stage (group B);Bifidobacterium was decreased and Staphylococcus was increased in the offspring with VAD after weaning (group C); Propionibacterium and Enterobacter were increased significantly in the offspring with VAD during gestation(group E); and Ochrobactrum was increased in group B and the offspring with VAD during gestation and lactation(group D). Faecalibacterium abundance was significantly and positively related to serum retinol levels, while that of Staphylococcus was significantly and negatively correlated with serum retinol levels. VAD in different life periods can alter the gut microbiome in rats, but VAD in the early-life periods (especially gestation and/or lactation) leads to a diversity of the colonic mucosal microbiota in adolescent rats as well as an imbalance of the ratio between Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes. The early-life period may become a time window of VA intervention to improve intestinal microbiota caused by VA deficiency, but the specific mechanism requires more in-depth research.

Maternal Vitamin A deficiency during pregnancy and lactation induced damaged intestinal structure and intestinal flora homeostasis in offspring mice

“…Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes fundamentally include gram‐negative bacteria, apart from gram‐positive Firmicutes microorganisms (Greenhill, 2015 ; Indiani et al, 2018 ), and some polysaccharide degrading enzymes kinds are generated by Bacteroidetes phylum, whereas there was fewer current number of microbes with polysaccharide degradation capacity within Firmicutes phylum (Allaband et al, 2019 ; Johnson et al, 2017 ). In terms of ecological imbalance, VAD brought about disproportionate abundances of Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes within the intestines, fitting other experiment researchers' results (Chen et al, 2020 ; Liu et al, 2016 ). In the above data segregation, various conditional pathogenic bacteria are shown to occur within mice with different VA levels.…”

Vitamin A Deficiency Exacerbates Gut Microbiota Dysbiosis and Cognitive Deficits in Amyloid Precursor Protein/Presenilin 1 Transgenic Mice

“…Emerging evidence shows that VAD in the different life stages could impair gut microbiota homeostasis, leading to the imbalance of Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes in rat colonic mucosal microbiota ( Chen et al, 2020 ). Amit-Romach et al (2009) illustrated that VAD could change the composition of gut microbiota and damage the integrity of the gastrointestinal mucosal barrier by reducing the abundance of Lactobacillus and the total bacterial count in the gastrointestinal tract.…”

Probiotics and vitamins modulate the cecal microbiota of laying hens submitted to induced molting

“…Vitamin supplementation promotes intestinal beneficial bacteria, which improves the performance and quality of egg production in aged hens ( Gan et al, 2020a ). Several studies report that vitamin A and D deficiency alters the microbiota diversity and Firmicutes / Bacteroides ratio, thereby affecting host immunity and metabolic ( Chen et al, 2020 ; Singh et al, 2022 ). Evidence has demonstrated that Vitamin C addition enhances the shape of intestinal villi, boosts the diversity and richness of the microorganisms in the cecal, and reduces Bacteroidetes/Firmicutes ratio and Enterobacteriaceae .…”