Simultaneous fluorometric determination of vitamins A and E in serum

A simple fluorometric method suitable for serial determinations is reported for simultaneous determination of vitamins A and E in serum. The solvents are pretreated chemically and by distillation. After shaking with ascorbic acid in ethanol, the vitamins are extracted from the serum samples with petroleum ether. The extract is used for the determination. The sensitivity of the method is 20 micrograms/100 ml for vitamin A and 0.04 micrograms/ml for vitamin E. Recovery rates are between 87 and 106%. The method was tested on a total of 160 serum samples of healthy animals belonging to 8 different species. The results showed good agreement with the so-called reference values published in the literature.