Inadequate vitamin A supplementation during pregnancy, lactation and the first weeks of life can impact lipid and vitamin A metabolism in rat offspring

Vitamin A (VA) supplementation to tackle this widespread deficiency should be carefully monitored to prevent excess. We addressed the effect of high-dose VA exposure during pregnancy, lactation and first weeks of life on offspring VA, vitamin E and lipid fasting and postprandial metabolism. Sprague-Dawley female rats were fed either 2300 IU.kg ^− 1 VA diet (control diet) or 9858 IU.kg ^− 1 VA (vitamin A supplemented diet - VAS). They were mated with control diet-fed males. Same diets were provided to mothers and their weaned offspring until 8 weeks of age. Organs and adipose tissue were collected for half of offspring at fast, the other half were force-fed with an oily emulsion containing retinyl palmitate and [1,1,1- ¹³ C ₃ ]triolein. VAS-fed female and male offspring displayed a significant accumulation of VA in the liver (18 and 32-fold increase of retinyl esters, p < 0.0001) and VAS-fed males exhibited higher plasma retinol concentrations (+ 42.8 ± 6.6%, p = 0.0011). Fasting plasma triglyceride concentration was higher for both VAS-fed females and males (+ 44.6 ± 6.8%, p = 0.0007 and + 58.8 ± 20.2%, p = 0.0343, respectively). Lipid absorption was increased in VAS-fed males (+ 60.9% of [1- ¹³ C]oleate absorption at 1.5h post-gavage, p < 0.0001). VA overexposure disbalances VA status and detrimentally impacts lipid metabolism in male offspring.