ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Nutr.
Sec. Nutrition and Metabolism
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnut.2025.1561693
Effects and Mechanisms of Vitamin A and D on Behavior Associated with Tourette Syndrome in Rats
Provisionally accepted
- 1Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, China
- 2Department of Pediatrics, Second Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province, China
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Background & aims Tourette syndrome (TS) is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder involving genetic, neurotransmission, immune, and gut-brain axis mechanisms that causes persistent motor and vocal tics. Current treatments mainly include drugs (for example, neuroleptics), but the treatment strategies are often unsatisfactory. Retinoic acid, derived from vitamin A, plays a role in TS, as children with this condition often exhibit reduced serum levels of retinoic acid and 25-hydroxyvitamin D. Supplementing with either nutrient has been shown to alleviate tic severity and frequency. In this study, we aim to explore the therapeutic effects and possible mechanisms of Vitamin A and D in TS. Methods IDPN (3,3-Iminodipropionitrile) was used to induce acute TS-like symptoms in rats via striatal dopamine dysregulation. Then vitamin A (3mg/kg/d) and D (10ug/kg/d) were continuously administered by gavage for 8 weeks. Stereotyped and head twitching behavior tests were then performed.High performance liquid chromatography was used to determine serum levels of 25-OH-D3, calcium, phosphorus and alkaline phosphatase in rats.The composition of intestinal flora was analyzed using 16S rRNA gene sequencing, and striatum metabolites were detected by untargeted metabolomic.The experimental results showed that the tic phenotype of TS rats was significantly relieved after 8 weeks of vitamin A and D treatment (P<0.001,n=10). The blood vitamin content and neurotransmitters in striatum of rats changed after vitamin A and D treatment (P<0.05,n=6). Moreover, vitamin A and D caused obvious changes in the diversity of intestinal flora and the abundance of each species in TS rats.This study shows that vitamin A and D supplementation can significantly alleviate the tic phenotype of TS rats, which demonstrates an association between vitamin A/D-induced gut flora alterations and neurotransmitter changes.Further research is needed to establish direct causal relationships in the gut-brain axis pathway.
Keywords: Tourette Syndrome, Vitamin A, Vitamin D, Gut Microbiota, Metabolites
Received: 16 Jan 2025; Accepted: 20 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Li, Xu, He, Zhang, Zhang, Shi and Tian. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Xiao-Yu Tian, Department of Pediatrics, Second Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, 050000, Hebei Province, China
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