Interactions of oral β-carotene and canthaxanthin in ferrets

• Published in: The Journal of nutrition Vol. 123; no. 8; pp. 1405 - 1413
• Main Authors: WHITE, W. S, PECK, K. M, BIERER, T. L, GUGGER, E. T, ERDMAN, J. W
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bethesda, MD American Society for Nutritional Sciences 01.08.1993; American Institute of Nutrition
• Subjects: Administration, Oral; Adrenal Glands - metabolism; Animals; beta Carotene; Biological and medical sciences; Biological Availability; Canthaxanthin - administration & dosage; Canthaxanthin - pharmacology; Carotenoids - administration & dosage; Carotenoids - antagonists & inhibitors; Carotenoids - pharmacokinetics; Carotenoids - pharmacology; Drug Interactions; Feeding. Feeding behavior; Ferrets; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Kidney - metabolism; Liver - metabolism; Male; Nutrition; Random Allocation; Spleen - metabolism; Tissue Distribution - drug effects; Vertebrates: anatomy and physiology, studies on body, several organs or systems; Vitamin A; Fissipedia; Carnivora; Nutrition; Carotene; Interaction; Vitamin; Oral administration; Bioavailability; Feeding; Vertebrata; Mammalia; Analog; Ferret; Pigments; Canthaxanthine; Biological accumulation; Carotenoid
• ISSN: 0022-3166; 1541-6100

Interactive effects of an oral dose of equal quantities of beta-carotene and either canthaxanthin or lycopene on serum and tissue beta-carotene accumulations were investigated in domestic ferrets. Like humans, ferrets absorb a substantial portion of ingested beta-carotene intact and accumulate it in tissues. After the ferrets ingested a low carotenoid purified diet for 13 d, they were randomly assigned to one of two groups of six animals. One group was dosed with beta-carotene (10 mg/kg body weight) and the other with beta-carotene and either canthaxanthin (Experiment 1) or lycopene (Experiment 2) (10 mg/kg body weight for each). In Experiment 1, ferrets that received a combined dose of beta-carotene and canthaxanthin had serum beta-carotene concentrations that were significantly lower at 8, 12 and 24 h post-dosing (P < 0.05), compared with those that received an individual dose of beta-carotene; liver, adrenal and kidney beta-carotene concentrations were also significantly reduced. In Experiment 2, ferrets that received a combined dose of lycopene and beta-carotene had lower serum and tissue beta-carotene concentrations than in those that received beta-carotene alone; the differences were not statistically significant with the exception of serum beta-carotene concentrations at 24 h post-dosing. The results suggest that, at the doses given, a concurrent oral canthaxanthin dose has a specific antagonistic effect on the bioavailability of a beta-carotene dose in ferrets.