2. Academic Validation
  3. Vitamin A Supplementation Induces AMFK Production to Promote Cartilage Proliferation and Antler Growth in Sika Deer

Vitamin A Supplementation Induces AMFK Production to Promote Cartilage Proliferation and Antler Growth in Sika Deer

  • Animals (Basel). 2025 Oct 1;15(19):2879. doi: 10.3390/ani15192879.
Huazhe Si 1,  Songze Li 1,  Huanhuan Liu 1,  Xing Duan 1,  Ruijia Deng 1,  Yuhang Zhu 1,  Yunxi Zhang 1,  Sibo Chen 1,  Shaoying Wang 1,  Cuiliu Ma 1,  Yongxiang Li 1,  Jianan Sang 1,  Xiuhua Gao 1,  Hanlu Liu 2 3,  Weixiao Nan 1,  Zhipeng Li 1 3 4 5
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 College of Animal Science and Technology, Jilin Agricultural University, Changchun 130118, China.
  • 2 College of Agriculture, Chifeng University, Chifeng 024000, China.
  • 3 Joint International Research Laboratory of Modern Agricultural Technology, Ministry of Education, Jilin Agricultural University, Changchun 130118, China.
  • 4 Jilin Provincial Engineering Research Center for Efficient Breeding and Product Development of Sika Deer, Jilin Agricultural University, Changchun 130118, China.
  • 5 Key Laboratory of Animal Production, Product Quality and Security, Ministry of Education, Jilin Agricultural University, Changchun 130118, China.
PMID: 41096474 DOI: 10.3390/ani15192879
Abstract

Antlers are unique mammalian organs that grow rapidly through extensive cartilage proliferation. Vitamin A (VA), via retinoic acid, is known to influence skeletal development, yet its contribution to antler growth remains unclear. We investigated whether rumen-protected VA supplementation modulates antler biology in sika deer by integrating gut microbiota profiling, fecal and serum metabolomics, antler cartilage transcriptomics, and in vitro chondrocyte assays. VA was associated with compositional shifts in the gut microbiota and altered metabolic profiles in feces and serum. Notably, the melatonin-derived metabolite AMFK increased in both matrices and showed strong associations with antler weight and cartilage-related gene expression. VA-supplemented deer exhibited higher antler weight, and antler transcriptomes indicated changes in pathways consistent with cartilage extracellular matrix and growth signaling. In chondrocytes, AMFK promoted proliferation and upregulated chondrogenic markers. Together, these findings suggest that VA may promote antler growth through a microbiota-metabolite-gene axis rather than by altering systemic retinol alone.

Keywords

Sika deer; antler transcriptomics; fecal microbiota; vitamin A.

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