Evening star., 1953-04-15
Unexpected Functions
Found in Some Vitumins
National Institutes Study
Raises Nutrition Problems
By Thomos R. Henry

Raises Nutrition Problems
By Thomos R. Henry
Vitamins are raising new major prob
lens in human nutrition.
Approximately 10 of these substances
now are considered essential in diet,
while the need for others, known, to
be required by lower life forms, re-
mains debatable. New light on their
functions is being obtained by research
workers at the National Institutes OF
Health and, in some cases, quite un-
expected functions have been found.
About Is years ago a new vitamin.
E, was introduced as the fertility"
vitamin. It is contained in wheat germ
and most animal fats. without it, ac-
cording to the early accounts. neither
humans nor animals could reproduce.
Then. for q time, it was advertised
as cold preventive.
Actually, according to the Public
Health Service workers. it probably does
not function directly In either Of these
ways. Lack Of any Of the essential
vitaminS Is likely to cause sterility.
General good health is the best way to
ward OF serious colds.
Now. it is being demonstrated, Vita
min E has far more fundamental
place in the economy Of living. A serious
deficiency affects liver and muscle. In
chickens. perhaps also in man. it af-
fects brain cells. In the liver it causes
acute atrophy. Cells degenerate and
die. It also causes the condition known
as muscular dystrophy in which muscle
fibers degenerate and finally disappear.
The effect on the chicken brain II .
rapid degeneration Of brain tissue.
New Role for Vitamin D. .,
Also the B vitamin, folio acid. present
in most green plants. has been shown
to have a far more fundamental role
than was assumed when 1t first was
introduced about Is years ago as .
remedy for Sprue, q chronic intestinal
disease frequent in the tropics. It's
functions have been broadened to var
ious macrocytic anemias, including the
anemias Of pregnancy, megaloblastic
anemia of children and, to some ex-
tent, pernicious anemia.
The National Institutes of Health work
now indicates. according to DR.. Floyd
Dart of the nutrition division, that the
basic function of the vitamins is the
transfer within the body of the So
called fornyl fragments, small mole
cules containing a single carbon atom
each, which are essentials in the for
nation of some blood cells and also In
the building up Of the nucleic and nu-
cleonic acids which make up the cy-
toplaSm inside the cells. Folio acid ap-
parently has such chemical structure
that it can pick up these formyl frag-
mentS from one part OF the system and
transfer them to another. g..
One of the major accomplishments OF
the Public Health Service nutrition
workers has been the isolation by DrS.
John Kereszetsy and Milton Silverman
Of what is essentially a new vitamin.
the so-called citrovorum factor. This
was first described in 1948 as a neces-
sary element in the food supply Of an
obscure bacterium, leuconostoc citro-
vorum. It was not suspected at the time
that it might play any part In human
nutrition. It finally was obtained in
relatively pure form from horse liver.
Similar to Folio Acid.
This citrovorum factor is very simi.
lar chemically and in It's functions to
folio acid. It appears, however, to be
somewhat more active. The present
conception, according to DR.. James M.
Hundley Of the Nutrition Institute, Is
that the vitamins actually isolated are
far from being, in many cases, the ac-
tual chemicals which are contained In
natural diet or are synthesized in the
body. Something is lost in the extrac-
tion processes and in some cases the
material obtained may be little more
than a chemical skeleton. Still It
lightens the body's Job Of synthesis.
It is believed that the citrovorum
factor is a more complete part Of the
same vitamin of which folio acid is q
part. 1t probably. is not the complete
vitamin. This citrovorum factor now
can be synthesized. The body. 1t is pc
lieved, has the capacity to make all
parts of the essential material except
the basic structure which is included IN
the diet and called. for want OF a
better word, a vitamin. This may be
true, especially, of all the still growing
family of B vitamins.
Most Potent Substance.
Somewhat similar to both folio acid
and the citrovorum factor is the one
member of the B complex which cannot
be synthesized, the most potent bioloei-
cal substance known. This is B-12. dis
covered by U. S. Department Of Agri-
culture workers a few years ago. 1ts
greatest value is in treatment Of hith-
erto almost invariably fatal pernicious
anemia. It is effective in incredibly
minute amounts.
AS long as it is taken at regular in
tervals the disease remains quiescent.
It appears again as soon as the treat
ment is stopped. About the same ef-
feet can be produced with liver If one
is able to eat about pound Of 1t .
day.
Lately, BIZ has been shown to
have a considerable growth stimulating
effect in stock feed-especially with
pigs. There Is some question as to
whether a similar effect has been
demonstrated for retarded children.
There is no explanation for the
phenomenon.