VII. EFFECTS OF DEFICIENCY 545 



proximately 70 mg. of tocopherol per kilogram of body mass. For compari- 

 son there are reported levels of 5.6 mg. per kilogram in a newborn infant 

 analyzed in toto, and of 3.1 mg. per kilogram in fetuses of 2 to 6 months 

 gestation age (average of 20 fetuses).'-" • '^* Analyses of separate tissues and 

 organs of man, as discussed later (p. 555) suggest that the tocopherol con- 

 tent of adipose tissue provides a much more reliable index of vitamin E 

 nutriture than that of other tissues. 



d. Metabolic Utilization 



The metabolic utilization of a-tocopherol, whi(,'h can be regarded as the 

 difference between net absorption and net storage over any given period 

 of time, has at present a rather intangible value. It is possible to control 

 and measure net absorption with a certain degree of accuracy, but total 

 storage or changes in storage over periods of time camiot be measured 

 or estimated in a living individual. Of greater importance is an under- 

 standing of those metabolic and other factors which influence the rate 

 of utilization of tocopherol in man, both as it applies to the body as a 

 whole and to isolated organs and tissue. At the present time we have es- 

 sentially no information on this c question and are only able to draw certain 

 inferences from experimental studies in which factors such as increasing 

 age, diets high in unsaturated fats, and other types of metabolic stress 

 exert a noteworthy effect on the total body economy of \'itamin E. 



2. ViTAMix E IX Early Life 



During recent years considerable attention has been given to the vitamin 

 E status of man during prenatal and early postnatal life. Tocopherol con- 

 centration is low in tissues of the fetus and newborn infant''^' '^"-i^^ but 

 somewhat higher in the placenta'"- '^^' '^"^ '^' which, as in lower mammals, 

 appears to have but a limited capacity to transfer tocopherol to the fetus. 

 Tocopherol levels are also low in cord blood'^"'^® and in blood of the new- 

 born,'^"- '^^ generally ranging from one-third to one-fifth those of the 

 mother; yet, maternal blood levels show a natural increment (see Table IV, 



'60 R. Ahderhalden, Schweiz. med. Wochschr. 75, 281 (1945). 



'" G. At.hanassiu, Klin. Wochschr. 24, 170 (1946); 25, .362 (1947). 



'" J. Varangot, H. Chailjoy, and X. Rieux, Compt. rend. soc. biol. 137, 210 (1943); 



138, 24 (1944). 

 '" W. Neuweiler, Intern. Z. Vilaniinfor.sch. 21, S3 (1949). 



'«' J. V. Straumfjord and M. L. Quaife, Proc. Soc. Expll. Biol. Med. 61, 309 (194G). 

 '" P. Cattaneo and \. jNIariani, Rend. ist. super, sanitd 13, 424 (19.50). 

 ""'^ F. Gerloczy, B. Bencze, J. Szena-s^-, and I). Kuiicz, Expericittin 7, 427 (HK'il). 

 '«' W. T. Moyer, Pediatrics 6, S93 (19.50). 

 "••** S. W. Wright, L. .J. Filer, .Jr., and K. E. Mason, Pediatric'^ 7, 380 (19.51). 



