Adaptation to Food Deprivation in Mammals: Vitamins A and E

Abstract

One of the topical tasks of mammalian vitaminology is finding out which physiological and biochemical mechanisms underlie adaptation in different mammalian species to varied environmental factors, specifically, to the absence of exogenous nutrients. This study aimed to evaluate tissue levels of vitamins A and E in four mammalian species (rat, mink, Arctic fox, northern bat) under food deprivation. The former three species were exposed to complete starvation for different lengths of time while northern bats starved naturally during their hibernation since October to March. It was shown that even short-term starvation, which does not disturb the general physiological condition of the animal, can lead to alter tissue levels of vitamins A and E, thus reflecting metabolic rearrangements caused by adaptation to the economical food regime. In different species, the capabilities of conserving vitamins in organs during starvation are dissimilar. In those adapted evolutionarily to long-term starvation, tissue levels of vitamins are less liable to change.