OCCURRENCE OF THE TOCOPHEROLS 799 



(£) Disirihution in Animal Tissues 



With the possible exception of the crustacean Daphnia magna (water- 

 flea), there is no evidence that the tocopherols are required by the inverte- 

 brates, or that they are stored in this group of animals. Fishes may contain 

 these vitamins, as some liver oils have appreciable amounts. Mason^^ 

 states that it is generally agreed that cod liver oil is devoid of vitamin E. 



TABLE 2 

 Estimated a-TocoPHEROL in Fresh Tissues of Rats on Low or High Vitamin E 



Diets" 



Milligrams a-tocopherol per kilogram tissue 



Low vit. E High vit. E Excess vit. E 



Tissue (4 X minimal) (100 X minimal) (10,000 X minimal) 



Liver 8.3 118 1,000 



Muscle 16.6 67 200 



Kidney 16.6 77 — 



Body fat . 20 59 125* 



Pancreas and thymus 22 100* 



Heart 28.6 HI 



Lung 28.6 125 



Spleen 33.3 100* 



Testis 16.6 50* 



Epididymis 18* 67* 



Prostate and seminal vesicle 16.6* 50* 



Uterus — 125 



Placenta — 77 



Mammary gland 28 . 6* 250 



Newborn 5 20 



Suckling young (24-48 hours) 20 67 



" K. E. Mason, Vitamins and Hormones, 2, 107-153 (1944), p. 117. 

 * Values based upon a limited number of assay tests. 



However, Quackenbush et al.^"^ reported an appreciable quantity of this 

 vitamin in cod liver oil (26 mg. per 100 grams of oil). Vitamin E has been 

 found in tuna liver oil,^^ and Robeson and Baxter^^ have reported minimal 

 quantities in liver oils of Mangona (shark) and of the soup-fin shark 

 {Galeorhinus zyopterus) (10 and 4 mg. per 100 grams of oil, respectively). 



The distribution of vitamin E in the rat has been carefully studied by 

 Mason. ^^ Although the concentration of vitamin E is reported by Cuth- 



" F. W. Quackenbush, H. L. Gottlieb, and H. Steenbock, Ind. Eng. Chem., 33, 1276- 

 1278 (1941). 



«3L. Bocchi, Ateneo parmense, 10, 107-126 (1938); Chem. AbsL, 33, 2945 (1939). 

 Cited by K. E. Mason, Vitamins and Hormones, 2, 116 (1944). 



64 C. D. Robeson and J. G. Baxter, /. Am. Chem. Soc, 65, 940-943 (1943). 



« K. E. Mason, /. Nutrition, 23, 71-81 (1942). 



