334 IV. DIGESTION OF LIPIDS OTHER THAN FATS 



Tablb 10 



The Vitamin A Content of the Blood and Lymph (expressed in I.U./100 ml.) of 



Bullocks That Had Received 5000 I.U. of Vitamin A per Kilogram 2 to 24 Hours 



before Slaughtering, or That Had Received No Supplementary Vitamin A a 



No vitamin A fed Vitamin A fed 



Before After Before After 



Category dosing dosing dosing dosing 



Blood vitamin A 87 — 72 — 



Systemic 83 162 



Portal 90 147 



Lymph vitamin A "... 



Non-intestinal 130 175 



Intestinal 



duodenal 225 1500 



jejunal 185 1028 



ileal 130 459 



colonic 132 169 



a Data adapted from E. Eden and K. C. Sellers, Biochern. J., 42, xlix (1948). 



able to demonstrate a quantitative recovery of administered vitamin A 

 from the chyle of their patient who had a chylothorax. Thompson, 

 Ganguly, and Kon 258 as well as Thompson et a/., 471 also proved that vita- 

 min A is transported in the lymph of the rat as well as of the pig. The 

 high content of vitamin A in lymph originating from various portions of 

 the gastrointestinal tract of bullocks after feeding vitamin A, as shown 

 by the experiments of Eden and Sellers, 563 is proof that this route of trans- 

 port obtains for cattle. As early as 1944, Popper and Volk 411 demon- 

 strated the presence of vitamin A in the lacteals, as revealed by fluorescent 

 microscopy, within twenty-five minutes after the administration of vita- 

 min A. This was confirmed by Radice and Herraiz. 564 It has been 

 repeatedly shown that vitamin A is present as the ester in the lymph and 

 blood of rats and of pigs 258 - 471 and in the blood serum of man. 432 



A number of investigators 258,264 ' 562 ' 563,565 ' 566 have proved that the portal 

 vein does not transport the vitamin A from the intestine, but merely con- 

 tains the vitamin A poured into the blood stream via the thoracic duct. 

 Thus, Eden and Sellers 565 note that, although the vitamin A content of the 

 portal blood increased after the dosing of bullocks, sheep, and rats with 

 this vitamin, the average figures for vitamin A in the portal blood were, 

 if anything, slightly lower than those of the systemic blood. The only 

 evidence for vitamin A transport via the portal system is that of Radice 



664 J. C. Radice and M. L. Herraiz, Rev. Asoc. vied, argentina, 61, 287-292 (1947). 



565 E. Eden and K. C. Sellers, Biochern. ./., 44, 264-267 (1949). 



56fi L. S. Palmer and C. H. Eckles, ./. Biol, Chen,,., 17, 223-236 (1914). 



