vitamin-a2 and dehydroretinal

Injection of estrogen into male Xenopus laevis induced the appearance of retinals (retinal and 3-dehydroretinal) and a considerable increase in the amount of retinols (retinol and 3-dehydroretinol) in the blood plasma. These retinoids were mainly in the all-trans form. Without estrogen injection, retinols were normally found in the blood plasma of both males and females, but only trace amounts of retinals were detected and these were restricted to the plasma of females. The proteins in the blood plasma of estrogen-injected males were separated into two fractions. One fraction included vitellogenin, the precursor of egg yolk proteins, and the other contained some plasma proteins other than vitellogenin. Retinals were detected in the former and retinols in the latter. It is suggested that retinals are bound to vitellogenin and are taken up into oocytes in the process of vitellogenesis.

Topics: Animals; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; Estradiol; Female; Kinetics; Male; Retinaldehyde; Vitamin A; Xenopus laevis

3-Dehydroretinal was found in the retina of a bioluminescent squid, Watasenia scintillans. The possible vitamin A2-visual pigment was localized in the ventral part of the eye and its proportion was about 15% of the total visual pigment.

Topics: Animals; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; Decapodiformes; Eye; Light; Luminescent Measurements; Retinal Pigments; Retinaldehyde; Retinoids; Vitamin A

HPLC (high-performance liquid chromatography) was used to analyse retinyl and 3,4-didehydroretinyl compounds in tissue extracts from goldfish and bullfrog tadpoles. Using silica columns (packed with 10-micron mu Porasil or 5-micron Ultrasphere particles) eluted with n-hexane (containing a small amount of dioxane or diethyl ether), the authentic all-trans retinyl and 3,4-didehydroretinyl palmitates, retinal and 3,4-didehydroretinal, retinol and 3,4-didehydroretinol were completely separated. Liver and eye extracts of the goldfish and bullfrog tadpoles had mainly esterified all-trans retinol and all-trans 3,4-didehydroretinol. In the liver, these vitamin A were conjugated to a number of fatty acids whereas in the eye, principally one fatty acid was used. Moreover, the relative proportions of all-trans retinol and all-trans 3,4-didehydroretinol (obtained by analysing the saponified esters) were significantly different between some of these body compartments.

Topics: Animals; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; Diterpenes; Esters; Eye; Goldfish; Larva; Liver; Rana catesbeiana; Retinaldehyde; Retinoids; Retinyl Esters; Vitamin A

Visual pigment composition was determined by HPLC analysis over a one-year period in the adult bullfrog (Rana catesbeiana). In Japan, the vitamin A2-based pigment was only 5% of the total visual pigment from the middle of July to October. The vitamin A2-based pigment increased in November and reached a maximum of 32-36% between January and June. This seasonal variation may relate to the average of outdoor temperature rather than the daylight hours. The amount of vitamin A2-based pigment began to increase when the average temperature became lower than 20 degrees C and it decreased rapidly as the average temperature was higher than 20 degrees C.

Topics: Animals; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; Rana catesbeiana; Retinal Pigments; Retinaldehyde; Seasons; Temperature; Vitamin A