704 XI. VITAMINS E (tocopherols) 



sufficiently early, the deposition of pigment in various organs of vitamin E- 

 deficient animals, the high mortality rate of turkey embryos, and the sus- 

 ceptibility of the kidneys to autolysis. ^^ 



{2') The Function of the Tocopherols in the 

 Metabolism of the Individual Foodstuffs 



According to Harris and Mason, ^' this method of classifjdng the action 

 of the tocopherols is highly artificial, since no reactions in the body occur 

 separately and exclusively. All reactions are highly interrelated and they 

 must function with one another in a highly complicated manner. 



a. Protein Metabolism, (a) Efficiency of Protein Utilization. Dam^^" 

 and later Hove,^^^ proved that the efficiency of protein utilization was in- 

 creased in animals on an inadequate protein intake when tocopherol was 

 administered. This was accepted as evidence that a-tocopherol partici- 

 pates in the intermediary metabolism of protein. The fact that tocopherol 

 accelerates the growth and replacement of liver tissue following partial 

 hepatectomy^^^'^^^ is, in all probability, another similar manifestation of 

 the action of vitamin E on protein utilization. Harris and Mason^^ con- 

 sider that these data may be interpreted as e\'idence of the antioxidant 

 action of a-tocopherol, although they do suggest the possibility that the 

 mode of action of the vitamin at the cellular level may be the result of its 

 influence upon nucleic acid, upon phosphocreatine metabolism, or upon 

 protein synthesis, by its action as a coenzyme. 



(6) Creatinuria and Phosphocreatine. Another role of vitamin E in 

 intermediary protein metabolism was discovered by a study of the products 

 of urinary excretion of animals in a state of extreme vitamin E deficiency. 

 Under such conditions, creatine appears in the urine at the expense of some 

 of the creatinine. This is probably a reflection of the loss of some muscle 

 components (creatine and creatinine), associated with the loss of muscle 

 function, and with the resulting muscular dystrophy. ^^^"^^^ Sutton and 



130 H. Dam, Proc. Soc. Exptl. Biol. Med., 55, 55-56 (1944). 



"1 E. L. Hove, Proc. Soc. Exptl. Biol. Med., 63, 508-511 (1946). 



132 G. C. Biaggini and G. Malagamba, Riv. patol. din., 6, 281-292 (1951). 



"3 N. Pacilli, Ospedale maggiore, U, 324-331 (1953); Abst. Reports Third Intern. Cong, 

 on Vitamin E, Venice, 1955, Vol. I, p. 30; Chem. Abst., 49, 13387 (1955). 



13^ E. L. Hove and J. O. Hardin, J. Nutrition, 48, 193-199 (1952). 



135 E. L. Hove and J. O. Hardin, /. Pharmacol. Exptl. Therap., 106, 88-93 (1952). 



13" A. E. Milman and A. T. Milhorat, Proc. Soc. Exptl. Biol. Med., 84, 654-660 (1953). 



13' C. G. Mackenzie, Experimental Muscidar Dystrophy, in R. M. Herriott, Symposium 

 on Nutrition, Johns Hopkins Press, Baltimore, 1953, pp. 136-178. 



138 T. Itai, J. Physiol. Soc. Japan, 15, 564-569 (1953); Chem. Abst., 48, 5318 (1948). 



