HIGH-PRESSURE LIQUID-CHROMATOGRAPHY OF FATTY-ACID ESTERS OF RETINOL ISOMERS - ANALYSIS OF RETINYL ESTERS STORED IN THE EYE

  • 1 January 1981
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 20  (3) , 304-313
Abstract
The all-trans, 13-cis, 11-cis and 9-cis retinyl esters of some or all of the following fatty acids were synthesized: caprylic (8:0), capric (10:0), lauric (12:0), myristic (14:0), palmitic (16:0), stearic (18:0), arachidic (20:0), palmitoleic (16:1), oleic (18:1), linoleic (18:2), linolenic (18:3), arachidonic (20:4) and docosahexaenoic (22:6). Mixtures of these compounds were analyzed by high-pressure liquid chromatography on an Altex 100 chromatograph. The isomeric form and fatty acid basis of the retinyl esters present in rabbit and rat ocular tissues were identified. Dark-adapted rabbits had 11-cis and all-trans retinyl esters, light-adapted albino rats had only the all-trans isomer. The fatty acids utilized for esterification were almost wholly palmitic for the rabbit; stearic and palmitic were present in the rat esters. Rabbits and frogs that contained a large proportion (80%) of their ocular retinyl esters in large, fluorescent oil droplets in the pigment epithelium. These were absent in rats.