REQUIREMENTS FOR VITAMIN E 749 



\itiuniii 1*". intake us G mg./lOOO Calorics or 14 mg. (13 I.U.) daily per 

 capita.'^ Hickman^^' suggests that diets considered as low, average, and 

 high in \'itaniin E should provide the following dail}^ ciuantities of a- 

 locophcrol for persons of different ages, respectively: infants, 1, 4, and 10 

 mg. ; children, 4, 10, and 20 mg. ; adults, 5, 15, and 35 mg. ; and aged, 3, 

 10 and, and 15 mg. The lower values suggested for aged individuals are 

 })ased upon reduced tissue storage, which is normally noted during this 

 period /*-'*^^ Mason and Dju'*^* observed suboptimal \atamin E values 

 during the early postnatal period as well. Neuweiler^"^ placed the re- 

 quirement of the newborn infant for vitamin E as 5 mg. per day; 

 it has practically no vitamin E reserve, and is therefore dependent upon 

 that in the milk to fulfil the requirement. 



There is no evidence that a state of hypervitaminosis E can be produced 

 by excessive dosages of this vitamin. Thus, Demole^^^ reported that mice 

 will tolerate oral doses of 50 g./kg., while rats tolerate 4 g./kg. over a period 

 of two months. Human adults have taken daily doses of 1 g. orally for 

 months with no undesirable symptoms. For a discussion of the thera- 

 peutic use of vitamin E in heart disease, peripheral vascular disease, 

 menopausal sjmdrome, primary fibrositis and related disorders, and in 

 diabetes mellitus, the reader is referred to the review by Harris, Mattill, 

 and Mason, ^1 pp. 564-570. 



«iK. C. D. Hickman, Record Chem. Prog., 9, 104r-121 (1948). 



«2 K. E. Mason, M. Y. Dju, and L. J. Filer, Jr., Federation Proc, 11, 449-450 (1952). 

 **^ K. E. Mason and M. Y. Dju, Nat. Vitamin Found., New York, Nutrition Symp. Ser., 

 No. 7, 1-19 (1953). 



«^ V. Demole, Z. Vitaminforsch., 8, 338-341 (1939). 



