Evaluation of the intestinal gene expression of SCARB1 and BCO1 in obese women submitted to Roux-en-Y gastric bypass and its association with vitamin A deficiency

• Grant number: 20/06888-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Effective date (Start): December 01, 2020
• Effective date (End): November 30, 2021
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Nutrition - Nutrition Biochemistry
• Principal Investigator: Priscila Sala Kobal
• Grantee: Priscilla Maciel Sampaio Campos
• Host Institution: Campus Pompéia. Centro Universitário São Camilo (CUSP). União Social Camiliana (USC). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Bariatric surgery is a surgical procedure frequently used to treat obesity and its comorbidities. Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) is the gold standard bariatric surgery technique, which involves gastric reduction and intestinal bypass. Nutritional deficiencies are among the most common complications of bariatric surgery, including vitamin A deficiency, which may reach 11% after 1 year of RYGB, even with vitamin supplementation. Experimentally, the anatomical changes induced by the RYGB technique may influence the absorption of this micronutrient, since vitamin A is mainly absorbed in the duodenum and proximal jejunum, a segment excluded from the nutrient flux after RYGB. Two key genes are involved in vitamin A metabolism: the SCARB1 gene responsible for the passage of ²-carotene into the duodenum and the protein encoded by the BCO1 gene is the key enzyme that converts ²-carotene in vitamin A. In the present study, genes related to vitamin A metabolism will be analyzed in intestinal biopsies of patients submitted to RYGB, as well as the amount of supplementation received by these patients and plasma vitamin A concentrations. The study of the expression of genes involved in the metabolism of vitamin A in the intestinal tissue of patients after RYGB may lead us to better understand the potential mechanisms that contribute to the deficiency of this micronutrient.