Vitamins Flashcards
How many known Vitamins?
16
Vitamins are organic substances. This means?
They contain a carbon
Why are vitamins added to a diet?
The animal cannot make the vitamin or they cannot make a high enough level of it
Antioxidants
Substances that help prevent oxidation, may help increase immune function and possibly decrease risk of infection and cancer. Antioxidants exist as vitamins, minerals and other compounds in foods.
Micelles
An aggregate or cluster of surfactant molecules, a water-soluble sphere that contains bile acids, FFA, MAG, and lipid-soluble vitamins for transportation within the intestinal lumen.
Monogastric
Having a single stomach.
Rumen
A large, hollow muscular organ- one of the four stomach compartments of ruminant animals and their major site of microbial digestion.
Vitamin
Any of various fat-soluble or water-soluble organic substances essential in minute amounts for normal growth and activity of the body and obtained naturally from plant and animal foods
Two categories of vitamins
Fat soluble (A,D,E,& K)
Water soluble (All others: c and b complex vitamins)
Fat Soluble
Vitamins are absorbed together with fat from the intestine into the circulation.
What vitamins are fat soluble
Vitamins A,D,E, &K
Can fat soluble vitamins be stored?
Yes, even for long periods of time (Months)
How are Fat soluble vitamins absorbed?
Intact, meaning they do not need to be digested
How do FSV (Fat soluble vitamins)get absorbed into the body?
Entering lymph system first via chylomicrons
Where is vitamin A found?
Only in Animal tissue, plants do not contain any.
If plants do not contain Vit. A what do they contain?
Carotene
What is Carotene used for?
The body breaks it down and forms vit. A
Vitamin A is also called?
Retinol
What are the benefits of adequate levels of vit A?
-Aid night vision (by strengthening light receptor pigments in the eye)
-Strengthen epithelial tissue maintenance (skin and other epithelial tissue)
-Enable bone growth
What are the symptoms of Vit. A?
-Reproductive problems (so vitamin A is often added to feed or injected annually into breeding animals)
-Stunted growth
-“night blindness” (inability to see well in low-light situations)
What are good sources of Carotene?
Pasture grasses, hay (Still green and not stored too long), corn
Good sources of Vit. A
Animal Liver tissue
Why should you not consume polar bear liver to obtain daily Vit. A?
They have such a high fat content that their liver has a lot of Vit. A. Since vitamin A is toxic in high doses a polar bear liver can be highly toxic.
What id vit D involved in?
calcium absorption and utilization
Two vitamin D forms
Vitamin D2 and Vitamin D3
Vitamin D2 is found in…
only plants
Vitamin D3 is found in….
Only animal Tissues
What animal must consume vitamin D3
Birds, they cannot convert D2 into D3
What form of vitamin D do mammals need to consume?
Either form as their bodies can convert D2 to D3
When do animals make vitamin D?
When skin is exposed to UV light. The cells make vitamin D from a type of cholesterol
What animal cannot make their own vitamin D?
Dog and Cats. Due to high activity of a certain enzyme
Vitamin D deficiency symptoms
-Rickets in young animals (bowlegged due to soft bones because they can’t absorb calcium from the diet)
-Weak bones in older animals (same reason)
-Poor eggshells from laying hens (same reason)
Good sources of vitamin D
-Exposure to sunlight (only takes ~15 minutes per day depending on the species)
-Sun-cured hays
-Cod liver oil
-Synthetic vitamin D that has been manufactured to be put into vitamin supplements
Vitamin E and what work together as antioxidants
Selenium
Adding vitamin E into feed does what?
Has the vitamin serve as an antioxidant (preservative)
Functions of Vitamin E
Important in muscle structure
Important in reproduction
Serves as an antioxidant in the body
Vitamin E deficiency symptoms
-White muscle disease in lambs, calves, and zoo animals has been seen (weak young animals with pale colored muscle).
-Reproductive failure (very expensive in a breeding herd!)
-Retained placenta in cattle is associated with low vitamin E and selenium in the diet.
What does Vitamin K serve as?
A cofactor in normal clotting of blood
what is one factor that can interfere with vitamin K inside body
the presence of antinutritional factor called coumarin
Where is Coumarin found
sweet clover
Is coumarin the same thing as a toxin?
No
what is a toxin that has the same affects as coumarin?
Warfarin, found in rat poison
Good sources of vitamin K
Most animal feeds
bacteria in the ruminant GI tract
Can water soluble vitamins be stored?
No, and must be provided in daily diet
Extra water soluble vitamins are excreted where?
Through urine
is there a single vitamin B?
No, but not all vit. Bs have a number
Example of vitamin B without number
Folacin (Folate or Folic acid)
where can vitamin b be synthesized?
Microbes in the rumen and the cecum
What can rumen microbes make?
All B Vitamins
What is Vitamin B1
Thiamin
Where is thiamin found?
in animal feeds
What enzyme destroys thiamin?
Thiaminase
How is there a thiamin deficiency?
Due to the enzyme thiaminase
How do we make thiaminase more active?
By freezing the food item containing thiamine
What is Beri-beri?
Thiamine deficiency in humans. This means an enlarged heart, numb extremities
What is Wernicke’s encephalopathy?
Thiamine deficiency in humans. This is a condition of mental confusion.
Vitamin B2 is
Riboflavin
Riboflavin deficiency results
-Reduced growth rate
-reproductive failure in sows
-“curled toe paralysis” in birds
-Vision & eye abnormalities
What are some good sources of riboflavin?
-Green forages
-milk
-meat/fish meal
What is Niacin?
A type of B-vitamin
where is Niacin found?
Found in grains
Why are livestock given niacin vitamin premix?
Niacin found in grain is not readily available to the livestock.
Deficiency of niacin acid leads to
-Reduced growth (diarrhea, vomiting, etc.)
-Dermatitis (skin problems)
-Pellagra is the most common concern
What is Pantothenic acid?
A b-vitamin
Deficiencies of pantothenic acid
Reduced growth
loss of hair
dermatitis and skin lesions
fatty liver
What is Vitamin B-12?
Cobalamin
Where does cobalamin get its name?
from having cobalt in the substance
Where is vitamin B12 or cobalamin found?
in animal tissues and in microbes
Where does cobalamin deficiencies occurs?
Pigs and poultry
Deficiencies in vitamin B12 leads to
reproductive failure in sows and eggs that don’t hatch from breeding hens
What is Biotin?
A B-vitamin
How does a biotin deficiency come about?
By consuming raw egg whites. As they contain a substance that makes biotin unavailable.
What is Choline
A B Vitamin or a pseudovitamin
When may choline deficiency occur?
It may occur dur pregnancy in swine and poultry
What are the results of a chloline deficiency?
reproductive failure in swine
slipped tendon in poultry, makes it impossible to walk
What are other B-complex vitamins?
Folacin
Pyridoxine (B6)
Inositol
PABA
What is Folacin deficiency results?
deficiency signs are reduced growth, reduced reproductive performance (and possible birth defects), and increased folacin seems to help immune functions.
What is pyridoxine (B6)?
a coenzyme and can affect growth hormones, insulin and sex hormones
What are deficiency signs of pyridoxine (B6)?
Neurological (convulsions) or skin related
Vitamin C deficiency causes?
Scurvy (usually shown as edema, weight loss, emaciation and diarrhea and eventually leading to severe structural defects)
Who can synthesize vitamin c?
Most mammalian species and avian species
Who cannot synthesize vitamin c?
humans, many non-human primates and guinea pigs
