Vitamin A supplement after neonatal Streptococcus pneumoniae pneumonia alters CD4+T cell subset and inhibits allergic asthma in mice model

BackgroundPreviously, we showed that neonatal pneumonia caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae (S. pneumoniae) promoted adulthood ovalbumin (OVA) induced allergic asthma. Many studies have demonstrated that vitamin A deficiency induced the development of allergic asthma. Whether neonatal S. pneumoniae pneumonia promoted allergic asthma development was associated with vitamin A concentrations remains unclear.\n\nMethodsFemale BALB/c neonates were infected with S. pneumoniae strain D39 and subsequently treated with vitamin A. Vitamin A concentrations in lung, serum and liver were monitored on 2, 5, 7, 14, 21, 28 days post infection. Four weeks after infection, mice were sensitized and challenged with OVA to induce allergic airway disease (AAD) in early adulthood. Twenty-four hours after the final challenge, lung histo-pathology, cytokine concentrations in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF), airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR) and lung CD4+T cells were measured.\n\nResultsWe demonstrated that neonatal S. pneumoniae pneumonia induce lung vitamin A deficiency up to early adulthood. Moreover, neonatal S. pneumoniae pneumonia aggravated airway inflammatory cells accumulation and increased AHR during AAD, decreased Foxp3+Treg and Th1 productions remarkably, while Th2 cell expression was increased significantly. Further study indicated that vitamin A supplement after neonatal S. pneumoniae pneumonia can promote Foxp3+Treg and Th1 productions, decrease Th2 cell expressions, alleviate AHR and inflammatory cells infiltration during AAD.\n\nConclusionsUsing a mouse model, we demonstrate that Vitamin A supplement after neonatal Streptococcus pneumoniae pneumonia alters the CD4+T cell subset and inhibits the development of early adulthood allergic asthma.