Fluorescent pigments from uterus of vitamin E-deficient rats.

Spectrophotofluorometric analyses of the extracts of uterus from sterile rats maintained on a vitamin E-deficient diet for a prolonged period of time indicated that the brown ceroid-like pigments present were highly fluorescent, having characteristics typical of products formed during lipid peroxidation in vivo. The aqueous-methanol layer of the uteral extract from vitamin E-deficient animals had higher fluorescence than the corresponding chloroform layer, indicating the presence of more polar water-soluble pigments than those found in most other tissues so far examined.