Vitamin Flashcards
Vitamin
Organic compound Present in minute amounts
Is essential (usually in minute amounts) for normal physiological function (i.e., maintenance, growth, development, and/or production)
not synthesized by the host in amounts adequate to meet normal physiological needs
Vitamin B12
Cyanocobalamin
Vitamin B1
Thiamin
Vitamin D
Cholecalciferol
vitamin A
Retinol
Vitamin B3
Niacin
Vitamin B1 deficiency
Beri beri
Vitamin D deficiency
Ricket
Vitamin B3 deficiency
Pellagara
Vitamin C deficiency
scurvy
Vitamin B2
Riboflavin
Fat-Soluble Vitamins
Appreciably Soluble in Non-polar Solvents:
Vit A/ D/ E/ K
Water-Soluble Vitamins:
Appreciably Soluble in Polar Solvents
Biotin/ folate[ B9] / Niacin [B3] / Riboflavin [B2] / Pantothenic acid/ Thiamin [B1] / Vit B6/ B12/ C
Vitamins That Can Be Biosynthesized
[ Precursor & route]
Niacin - Tryptophan - Conversion to NMN via picolinic acid
Vit D3 - 7-Dehydrocholesterol - UV photolosis
Vit C - Glucose - Gulonic acid pathway
Synthesis of Vitamin C
[ which organ & enzyme]
synthesis in liver
L- gulonolactone oxidase
Vitamin C
asorbic acid
Metabolic functions of vitamins
Antioxidants: Vit C/ E
Hormones [ Vit A /D]
Gene transcription elements [ Vit A /D]
Coenzymes: [Vitamin A, K, C, B1, B6, B12, Niacin, Riboflavin, Biotin, Pantothenic acid, Folate]
Focus of Current Vitamin Research
Analytical and physical chemistry:
- Determining chemical and biological potencies and stabilities (to storage, processing, and cooking of vitamins)
- Developing analytical methods for measuring vitamin contents of food
Biochemistry and molecular biology
- Elucidation the molecular mechanism of vitamin action, including roles in gene expression, elucidating pathways of vitamin metabolism
Nutritional surveillance and epidemiology
- Determining vitamin intakes and status of populations and at-risk subgroups; elucidating relationships of vitamin intake/status and disease risk
Genes Regulated by Vitamin E
Group 1- Uptake and degradation of tocopherols
Group 2- Lipid uptake and atherosclerosis
Group 3- Modulation of extracellular proteins
Group 4- Inflammation, cell adhesion, and platelet aggregation
Group 5- Cell signaling and cell-cycle regulation
Focus of Current Vitamin Research II
Medicine
Determining roles of vitamins in aetiology and/or management of chronic (e.g, cancer, CHD), congenital (e.g, neural tube defects), and infectious diseases
Agriculture and international development
Developing smallholder farming/gardening systems and other food-based approaches that support nutritional adequacy with respect to vitamins and other nutrients
Food technology:
Developing food-processing techniques that retain vitamins in food; and methods for the effective vitamin fortification of foods
High risk groups of vitamin deficiency
pregnant women Infants and young children Elderly people Poor/ food insecure people People with intestinal parasites or infections Smokers
Primary deficiencies have psychological and technological causes [7]
- poor food habits
- poverty (limited food choice/ diversity)
- Ignorance (lack of nutrient info)
- Lack of total food (crop failure)
- Vitamin destruction (e.g., during storage, processing, and/or cooking)
- Anorexia (e.g., homebound elderly, infirm dental problems)
- Apathy (lack of incentive to prepare adequate meals)
Secondary deficiencies have biological causes:
- Poor digestion (e.g. absence of stomach acid)
- Mal-absorption (impaired intestinal absorption of nutrients, e.g., as a result of diarrhoea, intestinal infection, parasites, pancreatitis
- Impaired metabolic utilization (e.g. certain drug therapies)
- Increased metabolic need (e.g, pregnancy, lactation, rapid growth, infection, nutrient imbalance)
Increased vitamin excretion (e.g., diuresis, lactation, excessive sweating)
Stages of Vitamin Deficiency
Marginal deficiency:
Stage I: Depletion of vitamin stores
Stage II: Cellular metabolic changes
Observable deficiency:
Stage III: Clinical defects
Stage IV: Morphological changes
