Vitamin A-storing system in mammals and birds in Arctic area - A study in the Svalbard archipelago-

Arctic animals such as polar bears (Ursus maritimus), polar foxes (Alopex l agopus), bearded seals (Erignathus barbatus), ringed seals (Phoca hispida), Svalbard reindeers (Rangifer tarandus platyrhynchus), glaucous gulls (Laru s hyperboreus), Brunnich's guillemots (Uria lomvia), and puffins (Fratercul a arctica) store a large amount of vitamin A (retinyl ester) in hepatic ste llate cells (interstitial cells, lipocytes, fat-storing cells, Ito cells), compared to human or usual experimental animals like rat or mouse. Other or gans, namely, kidney, intestine, muscle, spleen, and lung store only a smal l amount of vitamin A. These animals show neither hypervitaminosis A signs and symptoms nor pathological findings in the liver.