A Study On The Effects Of Vitamin A Marginal Diet On The Adult Expression Of Genes, Retinol Content In Lungs, And Morphology Of Lungs
Open Access
- Author:
- Hyczko, Alexis Victoria
- Area of Honors:
- Interdisciplinary in Biology and Nutritional Sciences
- Degree:
- Bachelor of Science
- Document Type:
- Thesis
- Thesis Supervisors:
- Dr. A. Catharine Ross, Thesis Supervisor
Rebecca L Corwin, Thesis Honors Advisor
Dr. Michael Axtell, Thesis Honors Advisor - Keywords:
- Vitamin A
Vitamin A deficiency
Lung
Retinol - Abstract:
- A clinically significant public health problem affecting children worldwide is vitamin A deficiency. Our knowledge of vitamin A (VA) effects on the ontogeny of the lung is limited despite the worldwide relevance of vitamin A deficiency. To better understand the impact of vitamin A deficiency on the lungs, this thesis aims to reveal how a diet of vitamin A adequate compared to vitamin A marginal status impacts the expression of retinoid-regulatory genes during ontogeny (early postnatal life), proliferation-associated genes, and surfactant proteins, and morphology of lung tissue. Rats were assigned a nutritionally adequate diet with marginal or adequate VA until adult age, 8 weeks old. Genetic expression of homeostatic and proliferation-associated genes was determined by (q)RT-PCR and retinol content was measured using UPLC. Histology was used to analyze the lung’s morphologic characteristics. UPLC results indicated lower levels of ROH in the VA deficient lung. Expression of homeostatic and proliferation-associated genes did not vary significantly between the VA adequate and VA marginal rats. mRNA expression of EGFR was significantly lower in the VA deficient lungs, the only gene that was significantly different. Alveolar counts, a measure of lung development, were generally lower in the VA deficient rats and varied more throughout the lung of VA deficient rats, but there was no significant difference. Overall morphology did not vary drastically between the VA adequate lung and VA deficient lung. Vitamin A deficiency did not have a severe impact on the adult lung and most genes regulating VA metabolism and lung development were not affected. In conclusion, adults may have stronger resilience than neonates against the potential effects that vitamin A deficiency poses on the lungs, or adults may have a protective mechanism to compensate for the effects of low dietary VA.