Vitamin A Flashcards
What is vitamin A active as?
alcohol, aldehyde, acetate, palmitate, and acid
What does retinoic acid not fulfill the requirements for?
visual purple and reproduction
What is the most popular synthetic form?
vitamin A palmitate
Vitamin A occurs only in _____
animals (carotenoids in plants)
Where is the highest levels of vitamin A found in the body?
the liver
-fish liver oils are very high
Colostrum contains __________ A as other milk
10x as much
What improves absorption of vitamin A?
bile salts and dietary fat
Vitamin A formula
C20H30O (Retinol)
Plays a role in the __________
visual purple cycle
Maintenance of ________
normal epithelium (normal = columnar; deficiency = squamous)
Needed for normal ___________ function
bone (slow osteoblast differentiation if deficient)
Can cause ___________
nervous symptoms and blindness
What happens to cerebral spinal fluid pressure in vitamin A deficiency?
pressure increases
Necessary for normal ___________
reproduction
Vitamin deficiency causes
-reduced appetite
-night blindness
-xerophthalmia (dry eye condition)
-runny eyes of cattle and sheep (copious lacrimation)
-Dried up tear glands in chickens
-increased keratinization of epithelium
-increased respiratory problems
-vaginal/repro tract problems
-favors formation of kidney stones
-congenital malformations in certain soft tissues
-liver and kidney damage
-diarrhea
-testicular degeneration (reversible)
Hypervitaminosis (toxicity)
-skin thickening
-interference with bone development
-prolonged prothrombin time
-increased cerebrospinal fluid pressure (hydrocephalus)
-lowered plasma cholesterol
-resorption of fetus
-decreased appetite
What is converted into vitamin A?
carotene that isn’t absorbed into the bloodstream
Where is carotene converted into vitamin A?
intestinal wall
Rats, goats, sheep, and pigs are known as __________ in terms of carotene
white fat species
Cows and horses are known as ____________ in terms of carotene
yellow fat species (because plasma containing carotene may by stored in liver and fatty tissues)
Where is vitamin A stored?
liver (70-93% of vitamin A found here)
-remainder is in fat deposits, kidneys, adrenals, and other organs
What do liver stores act as?
a buffer against subsequent dietary inadequacies
All-trans relative biopotency %
100
13-cis relative biopotency %
75
11-cis relative biopotency %
24
9,13-di-cis relative biopotency %
24
9-cis relative biopotency %
21
11,13-di-cis relative biopotency %
15
Sources of vitamin A
-fish oils
-egg yolk
-liver
-milk fat
Sources of carotenes
high in green leafy plants
-decreases due to storage
-rain damage and oxidation of sun loses up to 80% during first 24 hours of curing
General requirement of vitamin A
20-100 IU/kg BW (5x for poultry)
What increases stability of vitamin A?
-coating with gelatin
-adding the antioxidant vit. E
What destroys vitamin A?
-certain metals
-high temperatures