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Fetal and Maternal Vitamin A Levels in Tissues of Hypervitaminotic A Rats and Rabbits¹

Department of Nutrition and Food Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139

Pregnant rats and rabbits were given excess vitamin A, in the form of retinyl acetate or retinoic acid, for the 3-day period just prior to palatal closure in the fetuses. Twenty-four hours later, the various forms of vitamin A, and their levels, were determined in fetal liver and carcass and in maternal liver and serum by thin-layer chromatography. The predominant forms of vitamin A found in both fetal and maternal tissues were retinyl palmitate, retinol and retinoic acid. In both species, the tissues from the groups treated with retinoic acid contained levels of vitamin A similar to those found in control tissues. After retinyl acetate treatment in the rat, both of the maternal tissues studied had elevated vitamin A levels, whereas in the rabbit only maternal liver levels increased. In the groups treated with retinyl acetate, the ratio of the vitamin A levels in fetal liver:maternal serum reflected a species difference: the ratio was lower than the control value in the rabbit and higher than controls in the rat. Radiotracer studies in the rat, using either ³H-retinol or ¹⁴C-retinoic acid, demonstrated vitamin A transport across the placenta, with vitamin A concentrating in the fetal liver.

KEY WORDS: • hypervitaminosis A • retinoic acid • retinyl acetate • fetal development

¹ Supported by NIDR Training Grant No. 5-T01-DE 00105.

Manuscript received 21 February 1977.