TY  - JOUR
A1  - Mueller, K.
A1  - Raila, Jens
A1  - Altenkamp, Rainer
A1  - Schmidt, D.
A1  - Dietrich, R.
A1  - Hurtienne, Andrea
A1  - Wink, M.
A1  - Krone, O.
A1  - Brunnberg, Leo
A1  - Schweigert, Florian J.
T1  - Concentrations of retinol, 3,4-didehydroretinol, and retinyl esters in plasma of free-ranging birds of prey
JF  - Journal of animal physiology and animal nutrition
N2  - This study investigated vitamin A compounds in the plasma of healthy free-ranging Central European raptors with different feeding strategies. Plasma samples of nestlings of white-tailed sea eagle [white-tailed sea eagle (WTSE), Haliaeetus albicilla) (n = 32), osprey (Pandion haliaetus) (n = 39), northern goshawk (Accipiter gentilis) (n = 25), common buzzard (Buteo buteo) (n = 31), and honey buzzard (Pernis apivorus) (n = 18) and adults of WTSE (n = 10), osprey (n = 31), and northern goshawk (n = 45) were investigated with reversed-phase-high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC). In WTSE, northern goshawks and common buzzards retinol were the main plasma component of vitamin A, whilst in ospreys and honey buzzards, 3,4-didehydroretinol predominated. The median of the retinol plasma concentration in the nestlings group ranged from 0.12 to 3.80 mu M and in the adult group from 0.15 to 6.13 mu M. Median plasma concentrations of 3,4-didehydroretinol in nestlings ranged from 0.06 to 3.55 mu M. In adults, northern goshawks had the lowest plasma concentration of 3,4-didehydroretinol followed by WTSE and ospreys. The plasma of all investigated species contained retinyl esters (palmitate, oleate, and stearate). The results show considerable species-specific differences in the vitamin A plasma concentrations that might be caused by different nutrition strategies.
KW  - birds of prey
KW  - plasma
KW  - retinol
KW  - 3,4-didehydroretinol
KW  - retinyl esters
Y1  - 2012
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1439-0396.2011.01219.x
SN  - 0931-2439
VL  - 96
IS  - 6
SP  - 1044
EP  - 1053
PB  - Wiley-Blackwell
CY  - Hoboken
ER  -