Archives of Toxicology

, Volume 53, Issue 3, pp 225–233 | Cite as

Vitamin A (retinol) status in the Gunn rat

The effect of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin
  • Tuula Thunberg
  • Helen Håkansson
Article
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Abstract

Vitamin A (retinol) status and the effect of a single oral dose of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD), 10 μg × kg−1, on vitamin A in the liver and serum, and on the hepatic UDP-glucuronosyltransferase (UDPGT) (EC 2.4.1.17) activity, were studied in heterozygous (GW) and homozygous (GG) Gunn rats.
  1. 1)

    Data from vitamin A analyses demonstrate that the amount of vitamin A stored in the liver of untreated Gunn rats is of the same magnitude as that of Sprague-Dawley rats.

     
  2. 2)

    The retinol content in the liver of both GG and GW rats was reduced to about 50% by TCDD-treatment.

     
  3. 3)

    Retinol levels in serum were found to be variable and no significant effect due to TCDD could be observed.

     
  4. 4)

    No correlation between the TCDD-induced reduction of vitamin A and the induction of UDPGT activity by TCDD could be demonstrated in this study. The vitamin A reduction caused by TCDD was considerably less in the Gunn rat than in the Sprague-Dawley rat, and the results indicate that the Gunn rat is more resistant to TCDD than other strains of rat. TCDD-induced reduction of liver vitamin A seems to some extent to correlate with TCDD-toxicity in different strains of rat. The specific properties of the Gunn rat and its relatively high resistance to TCDD make it a valuable tool in studies about the mechanism of TCDD-toxicity.

     

Key words

Vitamin A Retinol Gunn rat UDP-Glucuronosyltransferase Liver Serum 2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin TCDD High performance liquid chromatography 
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Copyright information

© Springer-Verlag 1983

Authors and Affiliations

  • Tuula Thunberg
    • 1
  • Helen Håkansson
    • 1
  1. 1.Department of ToxicologyKarolinska InstituteStockholmSweden

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