TOCOPHEROLS IX VARIOUS METABOLIC PROCESSES 713 



has an effect upon calcium metabolism. In the case of a patient with cal- 

 cinosis associated with scleroderma, resorption of the calcified masses 

 occurred after treatment with vitamin E.^^" Shute^*' recorded two cases of 

 fragilitas ossium in children which were benefited by the administration of 

 vitamin E. These results could be interpreted as indicating a normahzing 

 effect of tocopherol on bone metabohsm. The evidence that vitamin E 

 plaj's a role in the metabolism of certain minerals appears to be too ^\"ide- 

 spread and con\dncing for this interrelationship to be denied. However, 

 more experimental data are needed to further explain the relationship. 



(3) The Importance of Tocopherols in Metabolism as 

 Influenced by Various Deficiency Symptoms 



a. Introduction. In the excellent 1954 review on the effects of a defi- 

 ciency of vitamin E by Harris and co-workers in the Sebrell-Harris mono- 

 graph on The Vitamins,^^ a table is given summarizing the references which 

 describe histopathologic changes follo'^ing \-itamin E deficiency in nineteen 

 species of animals. These include those which occur in the reproductive 

 system (testis degeneration or fetal resorption) , those affecting the muscu- 

 lar s\'stem (classified according to skeletal, cardiac, and smooth), those in 

 the nervous sj'stem, and finally those in the vascular system. These 

 histopathologic lesions show a wide variation in character, and they repre- 

 sent morphologic alterations in completely mirelated tissues. According 

 to Harris et al.,^^ they cannot be proved to be related to dysfunction in any 

 specific kind of cell or tissue. The nature of the abnormahty is such that it 

 can rarel}^ be changed by tocopherol therapy, although the chemical and 

 phj'siologic manifestations of the ^-itamin E deficiency may be corrected by 

 such therap}'. The species distribution of these lesions is included here in 

 the discussion of each type of deficiency. 



b. The Acid-Fast Pigment Associated with Vitamin E Deficiency. 

 Alartin and Moore ^^^ were the first to describe the occurrence of an acid- 

 fast pigment in uterine smooth muscle, skeletal muscle, and sex glands, as 

 well as in other organs of rats maintained for long periods on a ^-itamin E- 

 deficient diet. The pigment was characterized by its insolubility, its 

 inertness, and by the fact that it was free from iron. According to 

 INIoore and Wang,'^^'^^ it exhibits a brownish -yellow fluorescence when ex- 



'^ H. A. Freiind, ./. Michigan Slate Med. Soc, 60, 1233-1235 (1951). 



"1 W. E. Shute, Summary, 5, 1-2 (1953). 



192 A. J. P. Martin and T. Moore, /. Hyg., 39, 643-650 (1939). 



'" T. Moore and Y. L. Wang, Biochem. J., 37, i (1943). 



"* T. Moore and Y. L. Wang, Brit. J. Nutrition, 1, 53-64 (1947). 



