Abstract
The free and esterified vitamin A contents of the serum, liver and kidney of the albino rat were estimated 24,72 or 120 hours after the administration of 10,000,50,000,100,000 or 200,000 I.U. of vitamin A. The administration caused an increase of the esterified vitamin A in the serum. Change of the free vitamin A content was not observed. However, a remarkable increase occurred when an extremely great amount of vitamin A had been given. The increased free vitamin A level decreased rapidly with the lapse of time. In the liver, the content of esterified vitamin A increased as much as in the serum. There was, however, a limit for the increase of the content of the liver within a definite time. When much amount of vitamin A had been given, the vitamin A content of the organ increased in the course of time. The fluctuation of the free vitamin A content caused by the administration was not so much remarkable as that of the content of esterified type. In the kidney the vitamin A content did not so much increase as in the liver or serum. The ratio of the content of free vitamin A to that of esterified form was higher in the kidney than in the serum or liver.
