Vitamin A supplementation reduces the Th17-Treg – Related cytokines in obese and non-obese women

ABSTRACT Objective The objective of the present study was to investigate the effect of vitamin A supplementation on serum Th17 (IL-6, IL-17, IFNγ) and Treg (TGF-β, IL-10) related cytokines in obese and non-obese women. Subjects and methods In a randomized double blind placebo controlled design, 56 obese women were randomly assigned to receive either an oral dose of 25,000 IU retinyl palmitate or placebo per day for 4 months. Twenty eight ages matched non-obese women were also received vitamin A. At the study entry, anthropometric variables were measured and serum Th17 and Treg related cytokine profile were determined at baseline and 4 months after intervention. Results Significantly higher baseline concentrations of IL-6 were observed in obese compared with non-obese women (P < 0.05). However, the initial concentrations of other cytokines were not significantly different between groups. The mean concentrations of IL-17 and TGF-β were significantly decreased after vitamin A supplementation in non-obese and obese women respectively. Positive relationships between IL-17 and IL-10 (r = 0.42, P < 0.001), TGF-β and IL-17 (r = 0.35, P < 0.001) and between IL-10 and IFN-γ (r = 0.41, P = 0.002) in total participants were also observed. Conclusions The results of the present study showed for the first time that vitamin A supplementation reduces serum concentrations of IL-17 and TGF-β in reproductive age women. Further studies are needed to explore the possible underlying mechanisms.

摘要
研究目的：本研究旨在探讨补充维生素A对肥胖与非肥胖女性血清Th17细胞（Th17）相关细胞因子（白细胞介素6（IL-6）、白细胞介素17（IL-17）、干扰素γ（IFNγ））及调节性T细胞（Treg）相关细胞因子（转化生长因子β（TGF-β）、白细胞介素10（IL-10））的影响。
研究对象与方法：本研究采用随机双盲安慰剂对照设计，将56名肥胖女性随机分为两组，每日分别口服25000 IU棕榈酸视黄酯或安慰剂，干预时长为4个月；同时纳入28名年龄匹配的非肥胖女性，给予维生素A补充。于研究入组时测量人体测量学指标，并在基线及干预4个月后检测血清Th17及Treg相关细胞因子谱。
研究结果：与非肥胖女性相比，肥胖女性的基线IL-6浓度显著更高（P < 0.05）；但其余细胞因子的初始浓度在两组间无显著差异。分别在非肥胖与肥胖女性群体中，补充维生素A后，血清IL-17与TGF-β的平均浓度均显著降低。在全部研究对象中，还观察到IL-17与IL-10（r=0.42，P<0.001）、TGF-β与IL-17（r=0.35，P<0.001）以及IL-10与IFNγ（r=0.41，P=0.002）之间存在显著正相关关系。
研究结论：本研究结果首次证实，补充维生素A可降低育龄女性血清IL-17与TGF-β浓度。未来仍需开展进一步研究以探索其潜在作用机制。