title: Vitamin A is stored as fatty acyl esters of retinol in the lacrimal gland.
abstract: Many tissues which require vitamin A store the vitamin as long-chain fatty acyl esters of retinol. As part of a study designed to characterize vitamin A metabolism in the lacrimal gland, which transports retinol from blood to lacrimal gland fluid, extracts from lacrimal glands of rabbits and rats were analyzed by non-aqueous high performance liquid chromatography. Retinyl linoleate, retinyl palmitate, and retinyl stearate were identified in these extracts by their co-elution with standards, their retention time relative to retinyl palmitate, and their susceptibility to hydrolysis by saponification. Retinyl palmitate was present in rabbit lacrimal gland at 51.0 +/- 10.1 ng/g tissue. After treatment of vitamin A-deficient rabbits with orally administered [11,12-3H] retinyl acetate, the radiolabeled esters retinyl linoleate, palmitate, and stearate were extracted from the lacrimal glands. These data show that the lacrimal gland stores vitamin A as fatty acyl esters of retinol.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee 53226.
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Ubels
authors.forename: T B
authors.initials: TB
authors.lastname: Osgood
authors.forename: K M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Foley
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D004224:Diterpenes; D007765:Lacrimal Apparatus / Q000378:metabolism*; D011817:Rabbits; D012176:Retinoids / Q000302:isolation & purification; D000084562:Retinyl Esters; D014801:Vitamin A / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism*; D014802:Vitamin A Deficiency / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D004224:Diterpenes; D012176:Retinoids; D000084562:Retinyl Esters; D014801:Vitamin A; C014794:retinol palmitate; C009166:retinol acetate; C042811:retinyl stearate