title: The majority of vitamin A is transported as retinyl esters in the blood of most carnivores.
abstract: 1. In canines and mustelides total vitamin A was 10-50 times higher compared to other species due to a high amount of retinyl esters (40-99% of total vitamin A) in blood plasma. The dominant vitamin A ester was in most species retinyl stearate. 2. In Ursidae, Procyonidae, Viveridae and Felidae, total vitamin A was much lower. When present, however, retinyl esters also represented 10-65% of total vitamin A in plasma. 3. Only retinol was detected in plasma of the family, Hyaenidae, and the suborder, Pinnipedia. 4. In maned wolf cubs it was found that retinol, retinyl esters and alpha-tocopherol increased with the age of the animals, reaching values comparable to adult animals at the age of 5 months.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Physiology, Veterinary Faculty, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, München, FRG.
authors.forename: F J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Schweigert
authors.forename: O A
authors.initials: OA
authors.lastname: Ryder
authors.forename: W A
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: Rambeck
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zucker
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000097:blood; D000818:Animals; D001692:Biological Transport; D002335:Carnivora / Q000097:blood*; D009994:Osmolar Concentration; D014801:Vitamin A / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D014801:Vitamin A