Development of the vitamin A-storing cell in mouse liver during late fetal and neonatal periods.

Vitamin A-storing cells in perinatal mouse liver were studied by chemical and autoradiographic analyses of exogenous vitamin A. The amount of retinyl palmitate in the fetal liver increased significantly following oral administration of retinyl acetate to the mother, suggesting the existence of storage sites of the vitamin in fetal liver. Light microscope semi-serial autoradiography of the fetal liver on the 15th day of gestation showed that 3H-vitamin A administered to the mother was incorporated into cells distributed exclusively along the hepatic blood vessels and the blood islands. Mitotic figures of the labeled cells were frequently observed. Electron microscope autoradiography revealed that the vitamin was incorporated into lipid droplets, rough endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi apparatus of the fibroblast-like cells in close apposition to the endothelial cells. The labeled cells differed in their ultrastructure from the vitamin A-storing cells (Ito cells) of the adult liver. In the later gestational period, silver grains tended to be more concentrated in lipid droplets, and the cytological features of the labeled cells became similar to those of the vitamin A-storing cells. Both retinyl palmitate content and the labeling of lipid droplets increased rapidly in the liver of neonates after commencement of suckling. The labeled cells had the same appearance as the vitamin A-storing cells (Ito cells). It is concluded that vitamin A transported across the placenta is taken up in the fetal liver by the cells distributed along the blood vessels, and that these cells proliferate in accordance with vascular development and gradually take on the characteristics of vitamin A-storing cells during the perinatal period. A defensive role of the vitamin A-storing cell against the toxic effects of vitamin A is also suggested.