Four hours after intraportal injection of retinoic acid-(14)C into bile duct-cannulated rats, less than 10% of the radioactivity was recovered in the liver, intestine, and kidneys. Within 6 hr, 40% of the radioactivity had appeared in bile. When suspensions of retinol-(14)C or retinal were similarly injected, 25-35% of the dose was excreted in bile within 24 hr and equivalent amounts were deposited in the liver as retinol ester. The isolated perfused liver also produced these bile metabolites and is probably the major site of their formation in vivo. The intestine may metabolize retinoic acid, however, since some metabolites were found in the intestinal wall and lumen, even in bile duct-cannulated rats. The bile metabolites of retinol-(14)C and retinoic acid-(14)C undergo extensive enterohepatic circulation. The bile radioactivity was not volatilized on boiling at acid pH, was not present in digitonin-precipitated sterols, and did not migrate with bile salts on reversed-phase paper chromatography. Anion-exchange chromatography resolved the metabolites of bile into three fractions containing nonionic compounds, acidic substances like retinoic acid, and more polar acidic derivatives.

Animals↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Interaction of ethanol with retinol and retinoic acid in RAR beta and GAP-43 expression.

Fetal ethanol exposure has many detrimental effects on neural development, which possibly occurs through ethanol-induced disruption of the function of vitamin A. In LAN-5 neuroblastoma cells, retinol (10(-6) M) and retinoic acid (RA; 10(-5)-10(-6) M) increased RAR beta mRNA expression. Ethanol downregulated RAR beta levels, even in the presence of retinol. RAR beta mRNA expression was decreased by ethanol in the presence of 10(-6) M RA, but not 10(-5) M RA. With cycloheximide (CX), RA still stimulated RAR beta mRNA, but the effect of ethanol was abolished. The mRNA expression of GAP-43, an important factor in neural development, increased with 10(-6) M retinol and 10(-5)-10(-9) M RA. Ethanol decreased GAP-43 mRNA expression in the presence or absence of retinol. Ethanol was without effect on GAP-43 mRNA at 10(-5) M RA, but did lower the levels at 10(-6) and 10(-7) M RA. CX prevented the effects of both RA and ethanol on GAP-43 mRNA. These studies provide support for the hypothesis that retinoid function is altered by ethanol.

Blotting, Northern↗