Abstract
All-trans-retinyl β-glucuronide (ROG) which is water soluble was chemically synthesized and studied its biological activity. Weanling wistar male rats were fed on a vitamin A deficient diet for 30 days, and divided into 3 groups. Each rat in the 1st group was orally given with 5.2 μmol of ROG on the last day, animals in the 2nd group were given with vitamin A acetate (A-ace), and the 3rd group was remained as a vitamin A deficient control. At 48 hours after administration, retinol contents in liver and serum of rats were determined. Serum retinol levels in rats given with ROG significantly increased, but not in liver. However, serum retinol levels of ROG group were lower than those of A-ace group. Then, the effect of ROG on growth of the young rats was examined as compared with A-ace, and vitamin A deficiency. Rats in each group were orally given with 21 nmol/day of ROG or A-ace for 28 days. ROG supported the growth of young rat, although its ability was inferior to A-ace. And ROG was also effective to recover the body weight loss of rats with vitamin A deficiency. These results show that animals could convert ROG into retinol in vivo, and ROG has activities as the vitamin A.
