{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,19]],"date-time":"2026-10-19T17:44:28Z","timestamp":1792431868545,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":51,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,11,24]],"date-time":"2021-11-24T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1637712000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Immunol."],"abstract":"<jats:p>As the precursor of vitamin A, \u03b2-carotene has a positive effect on reproductive performance. Our previous study has shown that \u03b2-carotene can increase antioxidant enzyme activity potentially through regulating gut microbiota in pregnant sows. This study aimed to clarify the effect of \u03b2-carotene on reproductive performance and postpartum uterine recovery from the aspect of inflammation and gut microbiota by using a mouse model. Twenty-seven 6 weeks old female Kunming mice were randomly assigned into 3 groups (n=9), and fed with a diet containing 0, 30 or 90 mg\/kg \u03b2-carotene, respectively. The results showed that dietary supplementation of \u03b2-carotene reduced postpartum uterine hyperemia and uterine mass index (<jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic>&amp;lt;0.05), improved intestinal villus height and villus height to crypt depth ratio, decreased serum TNF-\u03b1 and IL-4 concentration (<jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic>&amp;lt;0.05), while no differences were observed in litter size and litter weight among three treatments. Characterization of gut microbiota revealed that \u03b2-carotene up-regulated the relative abundance of genera <jats:italic>Akkermansia<\/jats:italic>, <jats:italic>Candidatus Stoquefichus<\/jats:italic> and <jats:italic>Faecalibaculum<\/jats:italic>, but down-regulated the relative abundance of <jats:italic>Alloprevotella<\/jats:italic> and <jats:italic>Helicobacter<\/jats:italic>. Correlation analysis revealed that <jats:italic>Akkermansia<\/jats:italic> was negatively correlated with the IL-4 concentration, while <jats:italic>Candidatus Stoquefichus<\/jats:italic> and <jats:italic>Faecalibaculum<\/jats:italic> had a negative linear correlation with both TNF-\u03b1 and IL-4 concentration. On the other hand, <jats:italic>Alloprevotella<\/jats:italic> was positively correlated with the TNF-\u03b1, and <jats:italic>Helicobacter<\/jats:italic> had a positive correlation with both TNF-\u03b1 and IL-4 concentration. These data demonstrated that dietary supplementation of \u03b2-carotene contributes to postpartum uterine recovery by decreasing postpartum uterine hemorrhage and inhibiting the production of inflammatory cytokines potentially through modulating gut microbiota.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fimmu.2021.744425","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,11,30]],"date-time":"2021-11-30T22:23:15Z","timestamp":1638310995000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":58,"title":["Dietary \u03b2-Carotene on Postpartum Uterine Recovery in Mice: Crosstalk Between Gut Microbiota and 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