Vitamin a and Carotenoid Inter-Relationships in Bovine Plasma and Liver1,2

Abstract

Summary Arithmetic and log functions of bovine liver and plasma vitamin A and carotenoid were correlated in all possible combinations within each of four sampling periods. Little or no relationship existed between plasma and hepatic vitamin A or between hepatic carotenoid and plasma vitamin A. Positive relationships were found to exist between plasma carotenoid and hepatic carotenoid, hepatic carotenoid and hepatic vitamin A, plasma carotenoid and plasma vitamin A, and hepatic vitamin A and plasma carotenoid. The correlation coefficients were, however, so small that any known variable had little predictive value. There was no apparent advantage in using the exponential functions for any of the variables. The correlations were not conspicuously superior in magnitude for any given sampling period. The variances for sex and year subclasses were found to be homogeneous within most of the sampling periods, but considerable variation existed among the correlation coefficients computed.