Aspects of vitamin A deficiency in the rat

Abstract

The unsaponifiable matter from various organs of vitamin A-deficient, control and stock colony rats was examined by chromatographic and spectroscopic techniques. Attention was focused on the spectroscopically recognizable constituents designated SA and SC, together with total sterol and 7-dehydro steroid; the concentration of all these substances was affected by vitamin A deficiency. In livers and submaxillary glands deficiency caused a rise in the level of SA; livers also exhibited a marked concentration of SC and there was a much smaller accumulation of this substance in the small intestine. The bladder, submaxillary gland and vagina contained an increased concentration of 7-dehydro steroid, and in the latter two organs and the testes there was accumulation of spectroscopically transparent sterol; the small intestine exhibited a marked fall in 7-dehydro steroids. These results were discussed in relation to the systemic mode of action of vitamin A.