Beta-carotene content of certain organs from two patients receiving high doses of beta-carotene.

We measured carotene in the livers of two patients receiving beta-carotene therapy for photosensitivity. In both patients, the amount of carotene was within reported ranges for patients on normal diets; no abnormal amounts of beta-carotene had accumulated in the livers after oral administration of large amounts of beta-carotene. Light-microscopic examination of the liver (specimen obtained at cholecystectomy) of one patient with erythropoietic protoporphyria and cholesterosis showed findings characteristic of these conditions. Electron-microscopically, semicrystalline inclusions were seen in the mitochondria of the hepatocytes; such inclusions have been reported in several conditions, including erythropoietic protoporphyria and porphyria cutanea tarda, and in control subjects. Microscopic examination of the liver of the other patient, who had Rothmund-Rhomson syndrome and died of acute bacterial meningitis, revealed no abnormalities. The cerebrum of the latter patient contained 13 mug of carotene per kilogram (wet weight) of brain. No previous report of analysis of human brain for carotenoids could be found.