Determination of vitamin A, vitamin A precursors and cytoprotective carotenoids in animal and human blood.

In the past few years, considerable progress has been made in the investigation of the function of retinoids and carotenoids in higher animals and human including their role in cytoprotection. This has resulted in a considerable development in the analytical methods in the field of carotenoids and retinoids in biological materials. We have developed a method for the qualitative and quantitative determination of retinol and carotenoids in animal and human blood, using straight-phase liquid chromatography. Details of this work are presented jointly with a brief review of other analytical methods of these compounds.