VITAMINS

Fat soluble Vitamin VIT A VIT D VIT E VIT K

COMMON PROPERTIES

They are soluble in fat.

Bile salts are essential for their absorption.

They are generally stored in liver.

They are not excreted in urine.

VITAMIN A (Retinol) Vit ‘A’ is a fat soluble vitamin. It exist in the plant in the form of carotene,

which is activated in the liver & having following important functions

1) Vision : It plays an important role in vision

forming prosthetic group of a series of

carotenoid protein that provide molecular

basis for visual excitation.

2) Epithelial Tissue : Vitamin A helps in maintaining the integrity of epithelial tissue such as epithelial layers of skin. Respiratory mucosa & esophagus & gastro urinary tract. Due to this it builds us resistance to respiratory infection.

3) Structural Integrity : Its function in the presentation in the structural integrity and normal permeability of the cell membrane.

4) Bone And Teeth : It accelerates the normal formation of bones and teeth.

5) Oxygenation : It also increases permeability of blood capillaries thereby contributing to better tissue oxygenation. 6) Aging And Senility : It also prevents premature

agening and senility. 7) Synthesis : It is required for synthesis of

glucocorticoids and cholesterol.

Dietary source –

There are animal and plant source of vitamin A.

Animal source – Milk, butter, cheese, egg yolk, fish, liver oil etc.

Plant Source – Carrots ( richest source ), dark green leafy vegetables, yellow fruits, red palm oil etc.

Deficiency Symptoms .

Effect On Eyes – Night-blindness, Dry conjunctiva, Bitot’s

spot,Corneal xerosis, Corneal ulceration or keratomalacia can occur. Xeropthalmia due to decrease in lacrimal secretion.

Effect on growth - Failure of growth in young and collagenous tissue is

affected.

Keratinizing Metaplasia – The epithelial cells fail to differentiate. This means that the

cells in the basal layer loose their specificity and tend to form a stratified squamous metaplasia of epithelial cells is usually evident on several organs such as bladder, vagina and skin and predisposes them to infection. Drying of skin and atrophy of sebaceous gland.

Effect On Reproductive Organs – Degeneration of germinal epithelium thus affecting

reproduction causes sterility in males and cornification of vaginal epithelium in females.

Effect On Bones – Imbalance between osteoblast (Bone forming cell) &

osteoclast (Bone resorbing cell) causing abberration in the shape of Bone.

ORAL MANIFESTATIONS

TEETH : Defective formation of enamel in teeth Hypoplasia of Teeth.

DENTIN : Dentin too is atypical in structure taking normal tubular arrangement and containing vascular and cellular inclusion.

CARIES : There is increased caries suceptibility.

IN PROLONGED DEFICIENCY : Eruption is delayed. Alveolar bone is retarded in its rate of formation. Gingival epithelium becomes hyper plastic and shows

keratinization.

Management Prevention

Prevention is better than cure. Pregnant women , lactating mothers , growing

childrens should be advised to take adequate amount of dark green leafy vegetables. They

should also take yellow and green fruits. Treatment :- Immediately after making the diagnosis, a single dose of oral retinol palmitate , 60 mg may be given.

Hypervitaminosis – A If more than 30000 mcg of vit A is taken

daily, it can produce toxic effect in adults if continued for many months. In infants , toxic effect can be produced by the intake of more than 5550 mcg per day.

Toxicity Symptoms Painful joints, thickening of long bones,

anorexia, low grade fever, loss of hair, hepatomegaly,

blurred vision, rashes, irregular menstruation,

fatigue and headache.

Acute Toxicity : In result from a single massive dose and it manifests

abdominal pain, nausea, vomitting, headache, dizziness and sluggishness.

Chronic Toxicity : It may occur following ingestion of 12000 mcg or more

daily for prolonged periods. It is characterized by joints pain, hair loss and dryness and fissuring of lips, loss of appetite, low grade fever and weight loss.

VITAMIN E (TOCOPHEROL) It is a fat soluble vitamin . It is also called as ‘ anti-aging’ factor. The ‘tocopherol’ is derived from the word tocos meaning child birth and pheros meaning to bear. Tocopherol alpha, beta, gamma, lamda have been

Obtained from natural sources and there relationship with fertility and prevention of muscular dystrophy have been found.

They are not destroyed by heat even at room temp. or above 100.

They are destroyed by UV light.

DIETARY SOURCE

FUNCTION IN THE BODY

1) Reproductive Functions Protective effect of vitamin ‘E’ on reproduction and

prevention of sterility. All three layers of embryo ectoderm, mesoderm and endoderm are preserved by vitamin E.

2) Blood Flow And Clotting Mechanism Vitamin E dilutes the capillary and enables the blood

to flow freely into the blood deficient muscle tissue thus strenghening both the tissue and nerves supplying them.

It also dissolves the blood clot and also prevents their formation.

3) Healing It prevents the formation of excessive scar tissue &

some instance even melts away unwanted scar tissue.

4) Electron Transport System It functions as a co-factor in the electron transport

system.

5) Prevention It has ability to prevent hepatic necrosis in animals. It

prevents vitamin A from destruction and helps in its storage in tissue.

DEFICIENCY SYMPTOMS Reproductive : Abortion of fetus in females and atrophy at spermatogenic

structures in males leading to permanent sterility. Muscles : It causes degenerative changes in muscles. There is

muscle fiber atrophy which is replaced by connective tissue.

Heart : There is necrosis and fibrosis of heart muscle. Blood Capillaries : Deficiency may lead to degenerative changes in the blood capillaries which in turn lead to heart & lung diseases, pulmonary embolism and brain stroke.

Oral Manifestation :

Loss of pigmentation atrophic degenerative

changes in enamel of vitamin E deficient

rates.

Management :

Vitamin ‘E’ is given in the doses of 100-400mg

daily.