Regulation by vitamin A of cell proliferation and differentiation of epithelial tissues is well-established. Deficiency of vitamin A in experimental animals leads to the development of hyperplasia and squamous metaplasia. The objective of the present study was to examine, for young hamsters, the effects of variable levels of the vitamin in the liver and trachea, on cell proliferation and morphology of tracheal epithelium and on body weights. Newly born litters were maintained on vitamin A-supplemented and vitamin A-deficient diets, and various parameters were examined at different ages. Retinol and retinyl palmitate levels were determined by high performance liquid chromatography. For animals on the supplemented diet, concentrations of liver retinyl palmitate and retinol increased progressively with age, reaching highest levels of approximately 84 and 1.9 pg/g liver, respectively, at 28 d. In contrast, in animals on the vitamin A-deficient diet, the retinyl palmitate and retinol levels decreased progressively, reaching the lowest levels of approximately 0.32 and 0.09 pg/g, respectively. No significant reduction in retinol was observed in the trachea of animals maintained on the deficient diet for at least 20 d ; their tracheas were depleted of retinol at 28 d. No vitamin A-associated differences were, however, observed in the labelling indices, growth fraction or in the morphology of the tracheal epithelium. Both the control and vitamin A-deficient animals gained weight progressively until 36 d of age, although the weight of animals in the latter group remained below those in the former group. These results show that mild-to-severe deficiency of vitamin A had no effects on cell proliferation or tracheal morphology of the hamster. The hyperplasia and squamous metaplasia in the trachea occurs only at an extreme vitamin A-deficiency when the tissue levels of the vitamin are depleted.
Limited studies have described the ultrastructure of trachea of late fetal and neonatal hamsters but the effects of parturition and the onset of breathing on structure have not been discussed. This study describes morphological features of ante- and post-partum tracheal mucosa and submucosa and contrasts these features in fetal and neonatal hamster siblings. Significant differences between these siblings are noted in tracheal cells interfacing the lumen. Such cells of the fetal animals usually possessed cytoplasm of medium electron density with cisternal rough endoplasmic reticulum (RER). Surface membranes of these cells possessed numerous microvilli. In contrast, corresponding cells of post-natal animals often had lucent cytoplasm with mostly tubular or vesicular RER. Surface membranes of these cells possessed microplicae (microridges). This study also considers characteristics of fetal and neonatal tracheal development including: lomasome-like structures in secretory cells; dichotomous forms of oligocilia in mucosal and submucosal cells; intramembranous particles of hemidesmosomes; particles and mitochondria associated with desmosomes; and affiliations of ciliary basal bodies with the cytoskeleton, cell membrane, and with endoplasmic reticulum.
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