Rapid induction of vitamin A deficiency in rabbits.
Clinical and biochemical evidence of vitamin A deficiency was produced in rabbits as early as 4-5 weeks after weaning to a vitamin A deficient diet from dams maintained during lactation on the deficient diet. Mean serum retinol levels at the time of weaning for the deficient dams were 25 +/- 6 micrograms/dl compared with 74 +/- 8 micrograms/dl for the controls. Five weeks after weaning, 25% of pups fed the vitamin A deficient diet had ocular lesions characterized by the accumulation of sloughed epithelium on the cornea. At this time, mean serum values of the pups were 10 +/- 4 micrograms/dl for the deficient group and 73 +/- 8 micrograms/dl for the controls. Evidence of critically depleted liver stores was documented in the deficient rabbits by an elevated relative dose response test (54 +/- 18%) that did not occur in the control group (6 +/- 5%). Although food consumption was similar, weight gain was lower in the deficient group when compared to the control group.
el-Ghorab
M
M
National Eye Institute, Bethesda, MD 20892.
Knapka
J
J
Underwood
B A
BA
D000818:Animals; D001835:Body Weight; D005260:Female; D011817:Rabbits; D014801:Vitamin A / Q000032:analysis; D014802:Vitamin A Deficiency / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*
D014801:Vitamin A