Review Of Research Progress In Vitamin A And Brain Development

Vitamin A is one of the most important micronutrients. It hasnumberous important functions including a role in maintenance of epithelialsurfaces, regulation of vision, immune competence, reproduction andembryonic growth and development.The disease of vitamin A deficiency isa public health problem.The susceptible population of VAD are childrenand pregnant women.VAD during pregnancy and early stage of postnatalperiod can contribute to the growth and development disorders inoffsprings,which result in different congenital malformations. As for braindevelopment,VAD lead to congenital malformations, including loss ofmetencephalon,the abnormity in pattering of the axis of the dosal-ventralnotochord in embryo, hydrocephalus, anencephaly in fetus, etc.VAD alsodamage the learning, memory and cognitive functions, etc. Recentresearches indicate that vitamin A and its active derivatives RA have a closerelationship with morphological and functional development in brain,which regulates genes controlling neuronal differentiation, pattering of theaxis of the neural tube and synaptic plasticity by complex signaling pathway.Animal experiments show that vitamin A intervention can improve the injury of brain caused by VAD.This paper summarized the progressiveresearches about the effects on brain development vitamin A and its activederivatives make, the probable related mechanism and the improvement onintervention.