Impact of dietary vitamin A deficiency on body physiology and liver metabolism of Wistar rats.

Background

Studies suggest that vitamin A deficiency (VAD) can cause night blindness or xerophthalmia, hepatic and metabolic changes in the blood. Aim: Therefore, this work aimed to stablish a model of hypovitaminosis A in rats and to evaluate the effects of vitamin A deficiency on metabolic and oxidative parameters in the liver of rats.

Methods

Male (n = 19), Wistar, rats (21-day-old) weighing 50g, divided into two experimental groups: Control Group (C), received AIN 93G diet and Vitamin A Deficiency Group (VAD), received AIN 93G vitamin A-free diet for 45 days. In this work, the parameters analyzed were: body mass, food and water intake, biochemical aspects in the blood, lipids and glycogen content, lipid peroxidation, carbonyl proteins and catalase activity in the liver.

Results

In the VAD group, final body mass (9%), liver mass (28%), glycemia (14%), Total -cholesterol (17%), HDL -cholesterol (31%) and VLDL -cholesterol (30%) showed reduced (p < 0.05). The liver lipid (64%) and glyceride-fatty acid (74%) contents were higher in the VAD group. The carbonyl proteins in liver were increased by 171% (p < 0.05).

Conclusion

In summary, these results suggest that the absence of vitamin A from the diet was effective in inducing characteristics of hypovitaminosis A in rats. This way, can be used for studies related to glucose and lipid metabolism.