retinyl-stearate and Vitamin-A-Deficiency

Vitamin A (VA) deficiency and Tamm-Horsfall glycoprotein (THP), a protein that binds retinol and retinyl esters in canine urine, might be involved in the pathogenesis of urolithiasis in dogs. In the present study, we assessed levels of retinol, retinyl esters, retinol-binding protein (RBP) and THP in plasma and urine of dogs with a history of urolithiasis (n = 25) compared with clinically healthy controls (n = 18). Plasma retinol concentrations were higher in dogs with uroliths of struvit (P < 0.01), calcium oxalate (P < 0.05), urate (P < 0.01) and cysteine, but there were no differences in the concentrations of plasma RBP and retinyl esters. Excretion of urinary retinol and retinyl esters were tentatively, but not significantly higher in the stone-forming groups, which was accompanied by increased levels of urinary RBP (P < 0.01) and lower excretions in THP (P < 0.01). The results show that VA deficiency may be excluded as a potential cause for canine urolithiasis. However, the occurrence of RBP and a concomitant reduction of THP in urine indicates a disturbed kidney function as cause or consequence of stone formation in dogs.

Topics: Animals; Case-Control Studies; Diterpenes; Dog Diseases; Dogs; Female; Male; Mucoproteins; Retinol-Binding Proteins; Retinol-Binding Proteins, Plasma; Retinyl Esters; Urinary Calculi; Uromodulin; Vitamin A; Vitamin A Deficiency

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.

Topics: Animals; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; Diterpenes; Lacrimal Apparatus; Rabbits; Retinoids; Retinyl Esters; Vitamin A; Vitamin A Deficiency