Vitamin A Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Vitamin A, including details on retinol, benefits, dosage, supplements, deficiency, information.

Identification of 14-hydroxy-retro-retinol and 4-hydroxy-retinol as endogenous retinoids in rats throughout neonatal development.

Rühl R, Hamscher G, Garcia AL, Nau H, Schweigert FJ

Institute of Nutritional Sciences, University of Potsdam, Arthur-Scheunert-Allee 114-116, D-14558 Nuthetal, Germany. ralphruehl@web.de

14-Hydroxy-retro-retinol was previously described as an in vivo and in vitro metabolite of retinol. Furthermore, the retinoid 4-hydroxy-retinol was identified as an endogenous occurring retinoid in the amphibian organism and an in vitro metabolite of retinol. We describe in the present study that 14-hydroxy-retro-retinol and 4-hydroxy-retinol are present in normal neonatal rat serum as endogenous occurring retinoids in normal non-vitamin A supplemented mammals (rats). Both retinoids were detected in serum and liver of neonatal rats at days 3 and 11 after birth. The respective concentrations at day 11 after birth were 41.8 +/- 2.8 ng/ml (serum)/ 104 +/- 6 ng/g (liver) for 4-hydroxy-retinol and 23 +/- 4.6 ng/ml (serum)/ 285 +/- 5 ng/g (liver) for 14-hydroxy-retro-retinol. Both retinoids could not be detected in adult rat serum and liver. From our experiments important physiological functions of these retinoids during postnatal development could be postulated.

Published 31 January 2005 in Life Sci, 76(14): 1613-22.
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