Abstract
As the precursor of vitamin A, β-carotene has a positive effect on reproductive performance. Our previous study has shown that β-carotene can increase antioxidant enzyme activity potentially through regulating gut microbiota in pregnant sows. This study aimed to clarify the effect of β-carotene on reproductive performance and postpartum uterine recovery from the aspect of inflammation and gut microbiota by using a mouse model. Twenty-seven 6 weeks old female Kunming mice were randomly assigned into 3 groups (n=9), and fed with a diet containing 0, 30 or 90 mg/kg β-carotene, respectively. The results showed that dietary supplementation of β-carotene reduced postpartum uterine hyperemia and uterine mass index (P<0.05), improved intestinal villus height and villus height to crypt depth ratio, decreased serum TNF-α and IL-4 concentration (P<0.05), while no differences were observed in litter size and litter weight among three treatments. Characterization of gut microbiota revealed that β-carotene up-regulated the relative abundance of genera Akkermansia, Candidatus Stoquefichus and Faecalibaculum, but down-regulated the relative abundance of Alloprevotella and Helicobacter. Correlation analysis revealed that Akkermansia was negatively correlated with the IL-4 concentration, while Candidatus Stoquefichus and Faecalibaculum had a negative linear correlation with both TNF-α and IL-4 concentration. On the other hand, Alloprevotella was positively correlated with the TNF-α, and Helicobacter had a positive correlation with both TNF-α and IL-4 concentration. These data demonstrated that dietary supplementation of β-carotene contributes to postpartum uterine recovery by decreasing postpartum uterine hemorrhage and inhibiting the production of inflammatory cytokines potentially through modulating gut microbiota.
Highlights
Regular consumption of fruits and vegetables are believed to decrease the incidence of chronic disease [1], and the beneficial health effects may attribute to secondary plant compounds such as carotenoids [2, 3]. b-carotene is one of the main dietary carotenoids, and it can be converted to vitamin A in cells of intestinal mucosa, liver, uterus, and ovaries [4], the mechanisms are not clear [5]. b-carotene metabolism plays an important role during mammalian embryonic development [6]
After acclimatization for 1 week, female mice were randomly assigned to 3 groups (n=9), and fed with a basal diet, a diet containing 30 mg/ kg of b-carotene (b-carotene low dose group, CARL), or a diet containing 90 mg/kg of b-carotene
The present study showed that b-carotene could contribute to uterine recovery through reducing intrauterine blood stasis, with decreased uterine mass index and inflammation
Summary
Regular consumption of fruits and vegetables are believed to decrease the incidence of chronic disease [1], and the beneficial health effects may attribute to secondary plant compounds such as carotenoids [2, 3]. b-carotene is one of the main dietary carotenoids, and it can be converted to vitamin A in cells of intestinal mucosa, liver, uterus, and ovaries [4], the mechanisms are not clear [5]. b-carotene metabolism plays an important role during mammalian embryonic development [6]. Regular consumption of fruits and vegetables are believed to decrease the incidence of chronic disease [1], and the beneficial health effects may attribute to secondary plant compounds such as carotenoids [2, 3]. Recent studies have suggested that dietary b-carotene supplementation during late pregnancy has benefit to the birth weight of offspring in sows [7, 8], and injection of b-carotene can increase the litter size [9]. Sustain stretching muscle tissue, resulting tissue damage and adverse outcomes [14], promote postpartum recovery of uterus, which is beneficial to the mother. The above results suggested that b-carotene may contribute to postpartum recovery
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