抄録
Astaxanthin was not found in blood clot but in serum of salmon Oncorhyncus keta blood. When salmon serum was separated into five lipoprotein tractions by ultracentrifugal method as described by HAVEL et al., astaxanthin was found in the high density lipoprotein (HDL) fraction. Electrophoresis pattern of salmon serum on Pharmacia polyacrylamide gradient gel PAA 2/16 was simple. By electrophoresis, HDL of male salmon isolated by ultracentrifugal method showed one band, and the electrophoretic mobility was the same as that of female. Molecular weight of the HDL containing or binding astaxanthin was calculated to be 170, 000-200, 000, which was similar to that of human HDL.
Salmon serum HDL showed absorption maximum at 478nm. On the other hand, astaxanthin in petroleum ether showed absorption maximum at 470run. The small bathochromic shift in the absorption maximum of salmon serum HDL suggests that astaxantin may not be bound to HDL by a covalent bond.
It is assumed that astaxantin may be transported to the skin from the muscle in the form of HDL-astaxanthin complex in salmon serum.
