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Dietary ß-Carotene Absorption and Metabolism in Ferrets and Rats^1,2,

U.S. Department of Agriculture Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University, Boston, MA 02111 the^* Division of Comparative Medicine, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139

The ability of the ferret (Mustela putorius furo) to absorb dietary ß-carotene was studied to determine its appropriateness as a laboratory animal model for studies on ß-carotene metabolism. At baseline, the mean serum ß-carotene level in ferrets was 0.6 µg/dl and no ß-carotene was present in liver or adipose tissue. After the ferrets were fed 4 or 20 mg of ß-carotene/kg body wt daily for 2 wk, serum levels were 15.3 and 41.5 µg/dl, liver values were 0.9 and 4.1 µg/g and adipose tissue values were 0.1 and 0.2 µg/g of ß-carotene, respectively. Thus, like humans, ferrets are able to absorb dietary ß-carotene intact. Further, these animals can store quantifiable amounts of dietary ß-carotene in their liver and, to a lesser extent, in adipose tissue. In contrast, serum ß-carotene levels in rats fed the two levels of ß-carotene were very low (0.5 to 0.6 µg/dl) and no ß-carotene was found in liver or adipose tissue. Thus, the ferret is a more appropriate animal model for studying the intestinal absorption of ß-carotene and its storage and metabolism in body tissues.

KEY WORDS: • ß-carotene absorption • serum ß-carotene • liver ß-carotene • adipose tissue ß-carotene • vitamin A • ferret

¹ This research was supported in part by U.S. Department of Agriculture Contract No. 53-3K06-5-10, and by grant RR01634 from the Division of Research Resources, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD.

² Data were presented in part at the FASEB Summer Research Conference on Retinoids, Saxtons River, VT, June 19–24, 1988.

Manuscript received 25 August 1988. Revision accepted 8 December 1988.

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