Retinol is specifically required during mid-gestation for neonatal
survival.
Wellik, Deneen M., Diane H. Norback, and Hector F. Deluca.
Department of Biochemistry and Department of Pathology and
Laboratory Medicine, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 420 Henry Mall,
Madison, WI 53706
APStracts 3:0188E, 1996.
Previous work has demonstrated that vitamin A-deficient, retinoic
acid-supplemented pregnant rats cannot complete gestation without the
administration of retinol. As little as 2 [mu]g administered on day
10 of gestation is sufficient to prevent the characteristic fetal
resorption that begins at day 15 of gestation. This single dose of
retinol supports continued development through day 20 of gestation.
However, if gestation is allowed to proceed to parturition, the
newborn pups die within a few minutes of being severed from the
umbilical cord. The pups are born with a pink and healthy skin tone,
but within seconds of umbilical separation, they begin to gasp for
air, become cyanotic in appearance and die within several minutes
from an apparent inability to obtain oxygen. Histological examination
of these neonates demonstrates delayed pulmonary development.
Branching and scalloping of ducts and saccule and subsaccule
formation are decreased. This phenotype is consistent with that
observed in respiratory distress syndrome seen in some premature
human infants.
Received 17 June 1996; accepted in final form 26 August 1996.
APS Manuscript Number E294-6.
Article publication pending Am. J. Physiol. (Endocrinol. Metab.).
ISSN 1080-4757 Copyright 1996 The American Physiological Society.
Published in APStracts on 19 September 1996