Investigating piglet kidney vitamin A concentrations after high dose supplementation at birth

Abstract

Potential metabolism and toxicity issues with infant vitamin A dosing procedures have led to a vested interest by the World Health Organization. Whole body retinoid trafficking was under investigation by determination of serum, liver, lung, kidney, adrenal, and spleen retinoid concentrations of piglets born from vitamin A depleted sows and dosed at birth with 25K, 50K, or 200K IU preformed vitamin A. These doses represent levels currently administered to newborn children and mothers in regions with high prevalence of vitamin A deficiency. Retinoids are known to be stored in these tissues with kidney being the primary extrahepatic storage site. In this study, kidneys were analyzed by grinding with sodium sulfate and adding C‐23 alcohol as an internal standard. Dichloromethane was used to extract retinol and retinyl esters. All samples were saponified, extracted, and injected onto an HPLC system to analyze total retinol content. A subgroup was also analyzed unsaponified to elucidate the retinyl ester profile. Data will be used collectively with other organ and serum data to have a complete model for vitamin A circulation and storage under a deficient status followed by high dose paradigm.Grant Funding Source: World Health Organization