Vitamin D(3) Protects Mice from Diquat-Induced Oxidative Stress through the NF-κB/Nrf2/HO-1 Signaling Pathway

Vitamin D(3), as an indispensable and fat-soluble micronutrient, plays an important role in the health of humans and animals. At present, studies are focusing on the calcium absorption and immunoregulation function of vitamin D(3); this study was aimed at exploring the antioxidative stress ability of vitamin D(3) on diquat-induced intestinal dysfunction of ICR mice and the underlying mechanism. The results showed that oral gavage of vitamin D(3) daily significantly improved the body weight gain and immune organ index and significantly reverted the abnormal changes of ALT, AST, SOD, GSH-Px, T-AOC, and MDA in the serum and jejunum induced by diquat. The addition of vitamin D(3) also significantly reduced the concentration of DAO, D-LA, and certain proinflammatory cytokines in serum. Moreover, vitamin D(3) improved the pathological morphology of the duodenum, jejunum, colon, liver, and kidney tissues, and it also largely attenuated the degree of inflammatory infiltration of macrophages and cell apoptotic index of jejunal epithelial tissue induced by diquat. The results demonstrated that vitamin D(3) significantly recovered the intestinal barrier injury by enhancing the expression of mucins and tight junction proteins in the jejunum. In addition, the results indicated that vitamin D(3) could significantly reduce the phosphorylation level of NF-κB (p65) and enhance the expression of Nrf2 and HO-1 in the jejunum compared with the diquat-induced group. This study suggested that oral administration of vitamin D(3) can protect mice against oxidative damage by inhibiting the phosphorylation level of NF-κB (p65) and activating Nrf2-related signaling pathways.