Journal of Lipid Research, Vol 27, 1084-1088, Copyright © 1986 by Lipid Research, Inc.
Effects of dietary retinoic acid on cellular retinol- and retinoic acid- binding protein levels in various rat tissues
WS Blaner, K Das, JR Mertz, SR Das and DS Goodman
A study was conducted to explore the effects of retinoic acid, fed to
retinol-deficient rats, on the tissue distribution and levels of cellular
retinol-binding protein (CRBP) and cellular retinoic acid- binding protein
(CRABP). Sensitive and specific radioimmunoassays were employed to measure
the levels of both CRBP and CRABP. Two groups of six male rats each were
fed a purified retinoid-deficient diet supplemented with either: i) retinyl
acetate (control group); or ii) retinoic acid (30 mg/kg diet) (retinol
deficient-retinoic acid group). The retinoic acid supplementation was begun
after 38 days on the retinoid-deficient diet alone, and was continued for
52-54 days. Analysis of the data indicated that only the CRBP level of the
proximal epididymis in the retinol-deficient/retinoic acid group differed
significantly from (was lower than) the corresponding control level, at the
1% confidence level. CRABP tissue levels did not differ significantly
between the two groups. Thus, a moderately large intake of retinoic acid,
as the only source of retinoids, had very little effect on the tissue
distribution or levels of either its own cellular binding protein (CRABP)
or of CRBP. This study provides further information showing that the tissue
levels of the cellular retinoid- binding proteins are highly regulated and
maintained in rats, even in the presence of marked changes in retinoid
nutritional status.