Effect of chronic ethanol consumption and moderate or high fat diet upon tissue distribution of vitamin A in rats fed either vitamin A or β-carotene

Mary A. Grummer, John W. Erdman

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

The objective of this work was to evaluate the effects of ethanol feeding with moderate or high fat diets upon hepatic and nonhepatic tissue contents of vitamin A. In the first experiment male rats were fed control or 30% ethanol liquid diets containing retinul acetate and either moderate fat (17% of total calories) or high fat (35% of total calories) for four weeks. Three days prior to killing the rats on the high fat diets received an intragastric dose of [3H] retinyl acetate. The second experiment was similar to the first except that diets contained β-carotene and all rats received a dose of [3H] β-carotene. In both experiments the amount of vitamin A stored in the liver was lower in ethanol-fed rats, and the amount of liver vitamin A was lower in ethanol-fed rats on the high fat diet compared to those on low fat diet. The vitamin A levels in lungs and adrenals were higher in ethanol-fed rats, whereas the vitamin A levels of kidneys of ethanol-fed groups were either no different or lower than in controls. The results of the recovery of radioactivity in these tissues were similar. This study has demonstrated that chronic ethanol consumption causes increased vitamin A content of nonhepatic tissues, primarily the lung and adrenals, but not of kidneys. Also, the effects of ethanol consumption are more pronounced in combination with a high fat diet.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)61-73
Number of pages13
JournalNutrition Research
Volume6
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 1986

Keywords

  • Ethanol
  • Fat
  • Vitamin A
  • β-carotene

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism
  • Endocrinology
  • Nutrition and Dietetics

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