TOCOPHEROLS IN VARIOUS METABOLIC PROCESSES 741 



systems. Markees^-^ confirmed the results of Dam and Granados/^^ 

 Diphenyl-p-phenylenediamine (DPPD) has also produced a positive result 

 as regards its ability to replace vitamin E in the resorption-gestation 

 mechanism/^'* However, since the effect of DPPD in supporting pregnancy 

 and lactation in rats became succeedingly less in successive generations, 

 Johnson and Goodj^ear^^^ are now of the opinion that the positive effect of 

 DPPD is due to the fact that it protects the minimum quantities of vitamin 

 E in the diet and in the gut, rather than that it substitutes for it in the 

 metabolic functions in vivo. The reported effectiveness of DPPD in pre- 

 venting vitamin E-deficiency symptoms (encephalomalacia) in chicks, as 

 recorded by Singsen and co-workers, ^^^ is attributed by Scott and Norris^^^ 

 to its protective action upon traces of vitamin E in the presence of the 

 unsaturated fats of the diet. Granados et alJ^'^ demonstrated that sulfa- 

 guanidine also possesses a vitamin E-like effect upon vitamin E-deficient 

 rats. Thus, when this compound was fed to the extent of 1% in the diet, 

 the color of the lumbar fat, and the peroxide value for the fats were similar 

 to those obtained when the animals were supplemented with tocopherol. 

 HoAveA'er, the degree of incisor pigmentation was not appreciably affected. 

 On the other hand, Moore, Sharman, and Ward^^^-^^^ were unable to 

 confirm the results of the Dam group indicating that methylene blue can 

 substitute for tocopherol in the reproductive process. Moreover, the 

 atrophy of the testes in male rats on a vitamin E-free diet could not be pre- 

 A'ented by methylene blue.'*^^-*^® Such divergent results leave one some- 

 what in doubt about the effectiveness of these non-tocopherol antioxidants 

 in substituting for vitamin E to prevent the resorption-gestation sjiidrome. 

 Moreover, the Mackenzies^^^ and Harris^^^ reported a negative response to 



^29 S. Markees, Intern. Z. Vitaminforsch., 25, 316-317 (1954). 



*^ B. C. Johnson and S. Goodyear, The Role of Antioxidants in Vitamin E Nutrition, 

 Report cited by P. L. Harris and K. E. Mason, Proc. Third Intern. Congr. on Vitamin E, 

 Venice, 1955, Valdonega, Verona, 1956, pp. 20, 21. 



^^1 B. C. Johnson and S. Goodyear, Personal communication, 1955, cited by P. L. 

 Harris and K. E. Mason, Proc. Third Intern. Congr. on Vitamin E, Venice, 1955, Val- 

 donega, Verona, 1956, p. 21. 



*'2 E. P. Singsen, R. H. Bunnell, A. Kozeff, L. D. Matterson, and E. L. Jungherr, 

 Poultry Sci., 82, 924-925 (1953). 



'^^^ M. L. Scott and L. C. Norris, Studies on Vitamin E in Chick Nutrition, cited by 

 P. L. Harris and K. E. Mason, Proc. Third Intern. Congr. on Vitamin E, Venice, 1955, 

 Valdonega, Verona, 1956, p. 21. 



'•''' H. Gra!iados, E. Aaes-J0rgensen and H. Dam, Experientia, 6, 150-156 (1950). 



«5T. Moore, I. M. Sharman, and R. J. Ward, Biochem. ./., 68, xxxi (1953). 



^36 T. Moore, I. M. Sharman, and R. J. Ward, Biochem. J., 58, vii (1954). 



*" P. L. Harris, Unpublished observations, 1955; cited by P. L. Harris and K. E. 

 Mason, Proc. Third Intern. Congr. on Vitamin E, Venice, 1955, Valdonega, Verona, 

 1956, p. 21. 



