Effect of dietary vitamin E upon fluorescent compounds of the rat uterus.

Several water soluble and organic solvent soluble fluorescent peaks were observed in extracts of uteri from vitamin E deficient or supplemented rats following Sephadex column chromatography and spectrophotofluorometric analysis. Levels of one of the organic and two of the water soluble fluorescent peaks were found to be significantly higher in the uteri of vitamin E deficient rats than in vitamin E supplemented rats. Some of these fluorescent fractions may contribute to the brown discoloration that is known to occur in the uterus of vitamin E deficient animals.