MAMMALIAN CAROTENOIDS 



generally lowered in scarlet fever, ^ ^ in artificial hyperthermia, ^ ^^ ' " 

 (see Fig. 30), glomerular nephritis, ^ ^ coeliac disease, ^ ® and in the acute 

 stages of jaundice. ^ ^ In scarlet fever, reduction may be due to reduced 

 carotenoid intake, and in jaundice to impaired absorption {see p. 250). 

 Lowered plasma carotene levels are recorded in the case of pernicious 

 anaemia, but this seems of little importance in the aetiology of the 

 disease. * ^ 



According to Heymann, ' ^ absorption of carotene in children is 

 decreased in pneumonia, sepsis and gripe. Not all the effect could be 

 attributed to the accompanying fever, because fevers induced by small- 

 pox vaccines and an unspecified hyperpyrexic drug did not bring about 

 decreased absorption. Josephs ^^ has confirmed the drop in plasma 

 carotenoids in pneumonia in infants. Thiele and Guzinski^* claimed 

 that adrenalin injections produce slight increases in the plasma caro- 

 tenoid levels of humans suff^ering from a variety of diseases. A close 

 scrutiny of their data compels one to the view that no such increases 

 have been unequivocally demonstrated. Liver levels in health and 

 disease have been reported. ^ *^ 



The relationship between the thyroid gland and carotene meta- 

 bolism is now attracting much attention and the biochemical aspects 

 will be discussed more fully in Chapter XL Here will be mentioned 

 only the chief clinical findings. 



Clausen and McCoord, ^ ° Anderson and Soley, ^ ^ and Soskin and 

 Mirsky * * reported carotenaemia associated with hyperthyroidism, 

 but in their cases of hyperthyroidism. Popper and Steigmann * ' found 

 that the plasma carotene levels fell within the normal range. Escamilla " * 

 and Mandelbaum, Candel and Millman^* report a carotenaemia 

 associated with myxoedema which was improved by thyroid therapy ; 

 from the evidence provided it is clear that in neither study was the 

 criterion used for carotenaemia sufficiently rigid. Recent work by 

 Cohen, ^ ° ® however, quite clearly shows that carotenaemia is very often 

 associated with myxoedema. Durupt ^ ° ^ takes a case of carotenaemia 

 associated with a decreased B.M.R. (-25) to indicate that the thyroid 

 controls the conversion of carotene into vitamin A ; however, it is 

 difficult to see how he reconciles this conclusion with the high plasma 

 vitamin A values also recorded in his patient. 



Contradictory reports concerning carotenoid levels in aged humans 

 exist ; Wagner ^ ° ^ claims that plasma carotenoid levels are increased 

 whilst Rafsky , Newman and JoUiffe^'^' note decreased levels in old 

 people. However, Kirk and Chieffi^^* and Yiengst and Shock 1°* in 

 wider surveys found no statistically significant diflPerences between 

 old and young subjects. This has recently been confirmed. » ^ ^ 



235 



