A February 14, 2014, article published on the health news website, Parent Herald, described the results of a study that linked prenatal retinoic acid (RA) deficiency with postnatal airway hyperresponsiveness, a characteristic of asthma (Vitamin A deficiency during pregnancy could lead to asthma). Researchers at the Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC), led by Wellington V. Cardoso, MD, PhD, found that deficiencies of retinoic acid (vitamin A) during lung formation can alter the smooth muscle that surrounds airways, causing lungs to excessively narrow in response to outside stimuli. The team’s findings were published in the February 3rd issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation. 

 

Dr.Cardoso’s team, conducted experiments using a mouse model to control the timing and delivery of vitamin A to the developing fetus through maternal diet. Fetuses that were deprived vitamin A had excess smooth muscle in their airways compared to control mice. In a follow up experiment, mice were deprived vitamin A during the same developmental stage, but then had their normal diets restored until adulthood. "When the animals reached adulthood, they appeared normal - that is, they had no problems typically associated with vitamin A deficiency," Dr.Cardoso said. “However, pulmonary function tests showed that their lungs were clearly not normal.”

 

The researchers determined that retinoic acid plays a critical role in limiting excess smooth muscle development during lung formation. Dr.Cardoso stressed additional research is required in order to fully understand the underlying biological mechanisms of their findings. He stated, “we need to understand more precisely how early exposures of the fetus to adverse environmental factors can interfere with crucial developmental mechanisms, such as the one we found linking vitamin A to airway structure and function."

 

Cerilliant provides certified Snap-N-Spike® | Snap-N-Shoot® reference standard solutions of many vitamins from A, B, D, and E groups as well as vitamin D metabolites including 25-Hydroxy and 1,25-Dihydroxy analogs. These certified, NIST-traceable solutions are suitable for use as Snap-N-Spike® starting materials in preparation of matrix based calibrators and controls for clinical applications or for Snap-N-Shoot® reference standards in dietary supplement applications. Click on the link below for Cerilliant's current offering of vitamin certified reference standards: