Lack of Impact of High Dietary Vitamin A on T Helper 2-Dependent Contact Hypersensitivity to Fluorescein Isothiocyanate in Mice

Biol Pharm Bull. 2015;38(11):1827-30. doi: 10.1248/bpb.b15-00534. Epub 2015 Aug 21.

Abstract

Overuse of vitamin A as a dietary supplement is a concern in industrialized countries. High-level dietary vitamin A is thought to shift immunity to a T helper 2 (Th2)-dominant one, resulting in the promotion of allergies. We have been studying a fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-induced contact hypersensitivity (CHS) mouse model that involves Th2-type immunity. We fed a diet with a high retinyl palmitate content (250 international units (IU)/g diet) or a control diet (4 IU/g diet) to BALB/c mice for three weeks. No augmentation of FITC-induced CHS was found in mice fed the diet with a high vitamin A content, although accumulation of the vitamin was confirmed in the livers of these animals. The results indicated that relatively short-term feeding of the high-level vitamin A diet did not influence the Th2-driven response at a stage with significant retinol accumulation in the liver. The results were in contrast to the high-dose pyridoxine diets that produced a reduced response in FITC-induced CHS.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Dermatitis, Contact / etiology
  • Dermatitis, Contact / immunology*
  • Diet
  • Dietary Supplements* / adverse effects
  • Disease Models, Animal
  • Diterpenes
  • Fluorescein
  • Fluorescein-5-isothiocyanate
  • Isothiocyanates / immunology*
  • Liver / metabolism*
  • Mice, Inbred BALB C
  • Pyridoxine / administration & dosage
  • Pyridoxine / adverse effects
  • Retinyl Esters
  • Severity of Illness Index
  • Th1-Th2 Balance*
  • Th2 Cells / metabolism*
  • Vitamin A / administration & dosage
  • Vitamin A / adverse effects*
  • Vitamin A / analogs & derivatives
  • Vitamin A / metabolism

Substances

  • Diterpenes
  • Isothiocyanates
  • Retinyl Esters
  • Vitamin A
  • retinol palmitate
  • isothiocyanic acid
  • Fluorescein-5-isothiocyanate
  • Pyridoxine
  • Fluorescein