Elsevier

Nutrition

Volume 31, Issue 6, June 2015, Pages 813-819
Nutrition

Applied nutritional investigation
Maternal vitamin A supplementation increases natural antibody concentrations of preadolescent offspring in rural Nepal

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nut.2014.11.016Get rights and content
Under a Creative Commons license
open access

Highlights

  • Undernourished women in Nepal were supplemented throughout pregnancy.

  • Preadolescent children were screened to assess long-term effects of supplementation.

  • Fetal exposure to vitamin A increased children's natural antibodies (NAb).

  • NAb are unique products of B1a cells, which arise solely from fetal progenitors.

  • Inadequate vitamin A nutriture may impair fetal lymphopoiesis.

Abstract

Objective

B1a lymphocytes—which constitutively produce most natural antibodies (NAb)—arise from an early wave of progenitors unique to fetal life. Vitamin A regulates early lymphopoiesis. In animals, deficiency during this critical period compromises B1 cell populations. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of maternal supplementation with vitamin A or β-carotene from preconception through lactation on NAb concentrations of offspring.

Methods

Participants (N = 290) were born to participants of a cluster-randomized, placebo-controlled trial of weekly maternal vitamin A or β-carotene supplementation (7000 μg retinol equivalents) conducted in Sarlahi, Nepal (1994–1997) and assessed at ages 9 to 13 y (2006–2008). Serum retinol was measured by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography at mid-pregnancy and 3 mo of age. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to measure children's plasma NAb concentrations at 9 to 13 y.

Results

Unadjusted geometric mean concentrations were 20.08 U/mL (95% confidence interval [CI], 17.82–22.64) in the vitamin A group compared with 17.64 U/mL (95% CI, 15.70–19.81) and 15.96 U/mL (95% CI, 13.43–18.96) in the β-carotene and placebo groups (P = 0.07), respectively. After adjustment, maternal vitamin A supplementation was associated with a 0.39 SD increase in NAb concentrations (P = 0.02). The effect was mediated by infant serum retinol in our statistical models. Although girls had 1.4-fold higher NAb concentrations (P < 0.001), sex did not modify the vitamin A effect.

Conclusions

In an undernourished population, maternal vitamin A supplementation enhanced NAb concentrations of preadolescent children. We posit that this was due to a greater allotment of B1a precursors during fetal life and a sustained higher count of NAb-secreting B1a cells.

Keywords

Lymphopoiesis
B1a lymphocytes
Immune development
Developmental origins of health and disease
Programming

Cited by (0)

This work was supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (Grant GH 614, Global Control of Micronutrient Deficiency), Seattle, WA for the follow-up study and the U.S. Agency for International Development, Washington, DC, under Cooperative Agreement No. DAN 0045 A 005094 to 00 for the original antenatal supplementation trial, with additional assistance from the Sight and Life Research Institute, Baltimore, MD. ACP was supported by a predoctoral fellowship from the Procter & Gamble Company, Cincinnati, OH. ACP and KPW designed research. ACP, KJS, SKK, and KPW conducted research. ACP, KPW, and LMD analyzed and interpreted data. ACP wrote the paper. ACP and KPW had primary responsibility for final content. The authors had no conflicts of interest to declare.