Retinoic acidWIKIMEDIA, JYNTOMaternal vitamin A can significantly impact the development of the fetal immune system, according to a mouse study published today (March 19) in Nature.
Researchers have shown that the offspring of pregnant mice raised on a low-vitamin A diet developed smaller lymph nodes than did animals exposed to higher levels of the nutrient in utero. The vitamin-deprived mice also had fewer Peyer’s patches, lymph node-like structures in the intestine. The same was true for murine embryos genetically engineered to have defective receptors for the vitamin A metabolite retinoic acid. After birth, a normal diet did not reverse the effects of the in-utero deficiency, which seemed to hinder mice in fighting infections even as adults.
“What we found is that there is a tight link between the maternal diet during pregnancy and the immune fitness of the offspring,” said Henrique Veiga-Fernandes, who led the study. “In other words, whatever the ...
