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2004 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary

A study on vitamin A storage in polar bears in Greenland.

Research Project

Project/Area Number 14406001
Research Category

Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)

Allocation TypeSingle-year Grants
Section海外学術
Research Field Environmental physiology (including Physical medicine and Nutritional physiology)
Research InstitutionAkita University

Principal Investigator

SENOO Haruki  Akita University, School of Medicine, Professor, 医学部, 教授 (90171355)

Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) SATO Mitsuru  Akita University, School of Medicine, Associate professor, 医学部, 助教授 (60226008)
IRIE Toshiaki  Akita University, School of Medicine, Research associate, 医学部, 助手 (90231167)
HIGASHI Nobuyo  Akita University, School of Medicine, Research associate, 医学部, 助手 (60361218)
Project Period (FY) 2002 – 2004
KeywordsGreenland / polar bears / vitamin A / hepatic stellate cell / food web / lipid droplet / gold chloride / autofluorescence
Research Abstract

To investigate the storage mechanisms of vitamin A, we examined the liver of adult polar bears and arctic foxes, which physiologically store a large amount of vitamin A, by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) morphometry, gold chloride staining, fluorescence microscopy for detection of autofluorescence of vitamin A, staining with hematoxylin-eosin (H&E), Masson's trichrome, and Ishii-Ishii's silver impregnation. HPLC revealed that polar bears and arctic foxes contained 1.8-1.9 micro mole total retinol (retinol plus retinyl esters) per gram liver. In the arctic foxes, the composition of the retinyl esters was found to be 51.1 % palmitate, 26.6 % oleate,15.4 % stearate, and 7% linoleate. The hepatic stellate cells of the arctic animals were demonstrated by TEM to contain the bulk of the vitamin A lipid droplets in their cytoplasm. The liver lobules of the arctic animals showed a zonal gradient in the storage of vitamin A. The gradient was … More expressed as a symmetric crescendo-decrescendo profile starting at the periportal zone, peaking at the middle zone, and sloping down toward the central zone in the liver lobule. The density (namely, cell number per area) of hepatic stellate cells was essentially the same among the zones. The gradient and composition of the vitamin A esters in storing vitamin A were not changed by differences in the vitamin A amount in the livers. These results indicate that the heterogeneity of vitamin A-storage capacity in hepatic stellate cells of arctic foxes and polar bears is genetically determined. We also caught 4 polar bears in Ittoqqortoormiit, in the east coast of Greenland from July through August, 2004. We analyzed the lipid droplets in the hepatic stellate cells by morphological methods. The size and number of the droplets increased due to the aging; this showed the vitamin was accumulated chronologically. This result showed that the vitamin A was accumulated from the food and stored in the hepatic stellate cells. Less

  • Research Products

    (14 results)

All 2004 2003 Other

All Journal Article (13 results) Book (1 results)

  • [Journal Article] Structure and function of hepatic stellate cells.2004

    • Author(s)
      Senoo, H.
    • Journal Title

      Med Electron Miocrosc 37

      Pages: 3-15

    • Description
      「研究成果報告書概要(和文)」より
  • [Journal Article] Vitamin A distribution and content in tissues of the lamprey (Lampetra japonica).2004

    • Author(s)
      Wold, H.L.
    • Journal Title

      Anat Rec 276A

      Pages: 134-142

    • Description
      「研究成果報告書概要(和文)」より
  • [Journal Article] Intralobular distribution of vitamin A-storing lipid droplets in hepatic stellate cells with special reference to polar bear and arctic fox.2004

    • Author(s)
      Higashi, N.
    • Journal Title

      Comp Hepatol 3(Suppl 1)

      Pages: S16

    • Description
      「研究成果報告書概要(和文)」より
  • [Journal Article] Decreased capacity for vitamin A storage in hepatic stellate cells in arctic animals.2004

    • Author(s)
      Senoo, H.
    • Journal Title

      Comp Hepatol 3(Suppl 1)

      Pages: S18

    • Description
      「研究成果報告書概要(和文)」より
  • [Journal Article] Structure and function of hepatic stellate cells.2004

    • Author(s)
      Senoo, H.
    • Journal Title

      Med.Electron Miocrosc. 37

      Pages: 3-15

    • Description
      「研究成果報告書概要(欧文)」より
  • [Journal Article] Vitamin A distribution and content in tissues of the lamprey (Lampetra japonica).2004

    • Author(s)
      Wold, H.L., Wake, K., Higashi, N., Wang, D-R., Kojima, N., Imai, K., Blomhoff, R., Senoo, H
    • Journal Title

      Anat.Rec. 276A

      Pages: 134-142

    • Description
      「研究成果報告書概要(欧文)」より
  • [Journal Article] Intralobular distribution of vitamin A-storing lipid droplets in hepatic stellate cells with special reference to polar bear and arctic fox.2004

    • Author(s)
      Higashi, N., Imai, K., Sato, M., Sato, T., Kojima, N., Miura, M., Wold, H.L., Moskaug, J.O., Berg, T., Norum, K.R., Roos, N., Wake, K., Blomhoff, R., Senoo, H.
    • Journal Title

      Comp.Hepatol. 3(Suppl 1)

      Pages: S16

    • Description
      「研究成果報告書概要(欧文)」より
  • [Journal Article] Decreased capacity for vitamin A storage in hepatic stellate cells in arctic animals.2004

    • Author(s)
      Senoo, H., Wake, K., Wold, H.L., Higashi, N., Imai, K., Moskaug, J.O., Kojima, N., Miura, M., Sato, T., Sato, M., Roos, N., Berg, T., Norum, K.R., Blomhoff, R.
    • Journal Title

      Comp.Hepatol. 3(Suppl 1)

      Pages: S18

    • Description
      「研究成果報告書概要(欧文)」より
  • [Journal Article] Distribution of vitamin A-storing lipid droplets in hepatic stellate cells in liver lobules-A comparative study-.2003

    • Author(s)
      Higashi, N.
    • Journal Title

      Anat Rec 271A

      Pages: 240-248

    • Description
      「研究成果報告書概要(和文)」より
  • [Journal Article] Distribution of vitamin A-storing lipid droplets in hepatic stellate cells in liver lobules-A comparative study-.2003

    • Author(s)
      Higashi, N., Senoo, H.
    • Journal Title

      Anat.Rec., 271A

      Pages: 240-248

    • Description
      「研究成果報告書概要(欧文)」より
  • [Journal Article] Degradation of extracellular matrix by extrahepatic stellate cells in the intestine of the lamprey, Lampetra japonica.

    • Author(s)
      Higashi, N.
    • Journal Title

      Anat Rec (In press)

    • Description
      「研究成果報告書概要(和文)」より
  • [Journal Article] Degradation of extracellular matrix by extrahepatic stellate cells in the intestine of the lamprey, Lampetra japonica.

    • Author(s)
      Higashi, N, Wake, K., Sato, M., Kojima, N., Imai, K., Senoo, H.
    • Journal Title

      Anat.Rec. (In press)

    • Description
      「研究成果報告書概要(欧文)」より
  • [Journal Article] Stellate cell-Endothelial cell interaction.

    • Author(s)
      Senoo, H.
    • Journal Title

      Endothelial Biomedicine (In press)

    • Description
      「研究成果報告書概要(欧文)」より
  • [Book] Endothelial Biomedicine

    • Author(s)
      Senoo, H.
    • Publisher
      (In press)
    • Description
      「研究成果報告書概要(和文)」より

URL: 

Published: 2006-07-11  

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