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Effect of vitamin D3 supplementation on blood parameters and liver gene expression in female rats

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Abstract

Background

To better understand the molecular mechanism responsible for the therapeutic potential of vitamin D, we conducted an analysis of the liver transcriptomes of adult female rats.

Methods

Adult female rats (n = 18) were divided into three groups, receiving different doses of vitamin D: group I, 0; group II, 1000 U/kg; and group III, 5000 U/kg. Growth, body weight, the weight of main organs, blood haematological and biochemical parameters were evaluated. Gene expression in the liver were analyzed using RNA-seq and qPCR techniques.

Results

We observed a lower platelet count (p < 0,008) and a significantly greater (p < 0.02) number of WBCs in rats supplemented with 1000 U/kg than in rats from group III (5000 U/kg). Moreover, we noted a trend (p < 0.06) in total cholesterol concentration, suggesting a linear decrease with increasing doses of vitamin D. RNA-seq analysis did not reveal any differentially expressed genes with FDR < 0.05. However, GSEA revealed significant activation of a number of processes and pathways, including: “metallothionein, and TspO/MBR family”, and “negative regulation of tumor necrosis factor production”. qPCR analysis revealed significant upregulation of the Mt1, Mt2 and Orm1 genes in animals receiving high doses of vitamin D (p < 0.025, p < 0.025, and p < 0009, respectively). Moreover, Srebp2 and Insig2 were significantly lower in both experimental groups than in the control group (p < 0.003 and p < 0.036, respectively).

Conclusions

Our results support the anti-inflammatory, anitioxidant and anticholesterologenic potential of vitamin D but suggest that high doses of vitamin D are needed to obtain significant results in this regard.

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Data availability

Data that support the findings of this study have been deposited in the Gene Expression Omnibus NCBI, accession code: GSE243386.

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Funding

This work was supported by the National Research Institute of Animal Production, Statutory activity no 04-18-03-21.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Animal Molecular Biology, National Research Institute of Animal Production, Ul. Krakowska 1, Balice, 32-083, Poland

    Maria Oczkowicz, Alicja Wierzbicka, Anna Steg & Tomasz Szmatoła

  2. Department of Animal Nutrition and Feed Science, National Research Institute of Animal Production, Ul. Krakowska 1, Balice, 32-083, Poland

    Beata Szymczyk & Małgorzata Świątkiewicz

  3. Center for Experimental and Innovative Medicine, The University of Agriculture in Kraków, Rędzina 1c, Kraków, 30 248, Poland

    Tomasz Szmatoła

Authors
  1. Maria Oczkowicz
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  4. Alicja Wierzbicka
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Contributions

M.O. conceptualization, writting the manuscript, preparing figures.B.S and M.S. supervison over animal experiment, blood parameters analysis, table preparation.A.W and A.S RNA-seq and qPCR experimentsT.S. Bioinformatic analysisAll authors reviewed the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Maria Oczkowicz.

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Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Animal ethics

All the experimental procedures were reviewed and approved by the 2nd Local Ethics Committee for Animal Experimentation in Krakow (agreement no. 136/2018). The experiment was conducted according to the guidelines of the Declaration of Helsinki and in compliance with the European Union law (Directive 2010/63/UE, received in Poland by Legislative Decree 266/2015) of the European Parliament and of the Council on the protection of animals used for scientific or educational purposes.

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Oczkowicz, M., Szymczyk, B., Świątkiewicz, M. et al. Effect of vitamin D3 supplementation on blood parameters and liver gene expression in female rats. Mol Biol Rep 51, 456 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11033-024-09408-6

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