Retinoid- and carotenoid-enriched diets influence the ontogenesis of the immune system in mice.

Vitamin A (VA) has been identified as an important factor for the development of the immune system, especially during ontogenesis. It has been shown that antibody secretion and proliferation of lymphocyte populations depend on retinoids. In the present study we investigated the influence of a base VA diet and diets enriched with VA, beta-carotene and lycopene, on the ontogenesis of the immune system in mice. We examined the absolute and relative concentrations of splenic B lymphocytes (CD45R/B220), T lymphocytes (CD3+) and their subpopulations (CD4+ and CD8+), and measured serum immunoglobulin G (IgG) concentrations in the offspring of supplemented dams at different ages (1, 3, 5, 7, 14, 21 and 65 days). The experimental diets resulted in higher numbers of T and B lymphocytes after VA and carotenoid enrichment, when compared, at various time-points, with the base diet. Higher values of total serum IgG were found in the beta-carotene-enriched diet group on day 7. On days 7 and 14, the enriched diets induced significant alterations in the percentages and total numbers of splenic lymphocytes in comparison to the base diet. Our results confirm that supplementation with VA and carotenoids affect the immune-cell function during ontogenesis and suggest a possible role of these nutritional factors on the development of the immune system.