title: Retinol equivalence of carotenoids can be evaluated by hepatic vitamin A content.
abstract: The present study demonstrates a new method to evaluate the bioavailability of carotenoids based on the calculation of the hepatic retinol contents. Weaning male rats of Wistar strain were divided into 5 groups. Each group respectively received retinol acetate (2000-10,000 IU per kg diet), alpha-carotene (2400-6000 micrograms per kg diet), beta-carotene (2400-6000 micrograms per kg diet), mixture of alpha- and beta-carotenes in the ratio of 1:2 (2400 and 4800 micrograms per kg dit), and palm-carotene oil (2400-6000 micrograms per kg diet). The derived retinol equivalences of each carotenoid calculated according to the hepatic retinol contents were almost constant regardless of the volume of respective intake (alpha-carotene: 1.25 micrograms per IU; beta-carotene: 0.59 microgram per IU; mixture of alpha- and beta-carotene in the ratio of 1:2: 0.96 microgram per IU; Palm-carotene oil: 1.23 micrograms per IU). The results suggest that the hepatic retinol contents can be used as a new measure to evaluate the vitamin A bioavailability of carotenoids.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition, Junior College of Agriculture, Tokyo University of Agriculture, Japan.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Furusho
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kataoka
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yasuhara
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wada
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Masushige
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001682:Biological Availability; D002338:Carotenoids / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D004224:Diterpenes; D008099:Liver / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D000073878:Palm Oil; D010938:Plant Oils / Q000008:administration & dosage; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D000084562:Retinyl Esters; D013810:Therapeutic Equivalency; D014801:Vitamin A / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D015430:Weight Gain; D019207:beta Carotene / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000493:pharmacokinetics
chemical_list: D004224:Diterpenes; D010938:Plant Oils; D000084562:Retinyl Esters; D019207:beta Carotene; D014801:Vitamin A; D002338:Carotenoids; C009166:retinol acetate; C041635:alpha-carotene; D000073878:Palm Oil