Dr.
Rana Muhammad Aadil
How do vitamins work?
• Nor does the term refer to the large number of
other nutrients that promote health, but are not
strictly essential
• Vitamins are biomolecules that act both as
catalysts & substrates in chemical reactions
• Vitamins also act as coenzymes (attach to
enzymes & help in their functioning) e.g. folic acid
• Each organism has different vitamin
requirements. For example, vitamin C is
necessary for humans but not for dogs, because
dogs can produce (synthesize) enough for their
own needs, while humans cannot.
Classification
• There are two types of vitamins:
1. Fat soluble vitamins
2. Water soluble vitamins
• These are absorbed, together with fat from the
intestine, into the circulation
• Any disease or disorder that affects the
absorption of fat, such as coeliac disease (a
disease in which the small intestine is
hypersensitive to gluten, leading to difficulty in
digesting food), could lead to a deficiency of
these vitamins
• Once absorbed into the circulation these
vitamins are carried to the liver where they are
stored
• When foods containing fat-soluble vitamins are
eaten, the vitamins are stored in the fat tissues in
body, in the liver
• Fat-soluble vitamins are easier for the body to
store than water-soluble
• They go & wait around in body fat until the body
needs them
• Vitamins A, D, E & K make up the fat soluble vitamins
• Vitamins A, D & K are stored in the liver & vitamin E
is distributed throughout the body's fatty tissues
Fat Soluble Vitamins vs.
Water Soluble Vitamins
Vitamin A
•3 forms in the body
•Retinol (animal tissues as aretinyl ester with LCFA
– Retinal (oxidation of retinol)
– retinoic acid (oxidation of retinal)
•collectively known as retinoids
– found in food derived from animals
Retinol, the alcohol form Retinal, the aldehyde form Retinoic acid, the acid form
Beta-carotene, a precursor
Cleavage at this point can
yield two molecules of vitamin A*
(β-carotene is only about 1/12 that of
retinol.)
• Helps to maintain eyes, skin, tissues and mucous
membranes
• Prevents the infections brought about by low estrogen
levels
• Supports vision, bone and tooth growth, immunity
and reproduction
• Prolonged lack of vitamin A leads to deterioration
of the eye tissue through progressive
keratinization of the cornea, a condition known as
xerophthalmia
• The increased risk of cancer in vitamin deficiency
is thought to be due to depletion in β-carotene
• β-carotene is suspected to reduce the risk lung
cancer in smokers & cancers known to be initiated
by the production of free radicals
• Take care when increasing the intake of any of the
lipid soluble vitamins as excess accumulation of
vitamin A in the liver can lead to toxicity which
manifests as bone pain, nausea and diarrhea
Xerophthalmia
VITAMIN D
• Vitamin D hormone-like
function.
• The active molecule, 1,25-
dihydroxycholecalciferol
(1,25-diOH-D3)
• binds to intracellular receptor
proteins. complex interacts with
DNA stimulates gene expression
or specifically represses gene
transcription.
• The most prominent actions to
regulate the plasma levels of
calcium and phosphorus.
• In infants and children, severe vitamin D deficiency
results in the failure of bone to mineralize (rickets)
• Weight-bearing limbs (arms and legs) become
bowed & in infants may result in delayed closure o
the fontanels (soft spots) in the skull
• In adults bone mineral is progressively lost, resulting
in bone pain and osteomalacia
Deficiency causes muscle weakness and pain in
children and adults
Rickets
VITAMIN E
• α-tocopherol is the most active
• function of vitamin E is as an antioxidant
• in prevention of the nonenzymic oxidation of
cell components, PUFA, by O2 and free radicals.
VITAMIN K
• The principal role in the post-translational
modification of various blood clotting factors
• serves as a coenzyme in the carboxylation of certain
glutamic acid residues present in clotting factors
Vitamin K exists in several forms, for example
Structure of thiamine and its coenzyme form, thiamine pyrophosphate
Thiamine pyrophosphate TPP biologically active form of the vitamin,
formed by the transfer of a pyrophosphate group from adenosine
triphosphate (ATP) to thiamine .
• Wet (cardiac) beriberi results in rapid heart rate,
enlargement of the heart, severe swelling (edema),
difficulty in breathing, and ultimately congestive heart
failure
• Infantile beriberi in babies
• Cerebral beriberi may lead to abnormal eye
movements, gait abnormalities, and abnormalities in
mental function result in a profound memory disorder
RIBOFLAVIN (VITAMIN B2)
The two biologically active forms are flavin mononucleotide (FMN) and
flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD), from ATP
each capable of reversibly accepting two hydrogen atoms, forming
FMNH2 or FADH2.
Angular stomatitis
Vitamin B3 (NIACIN)
Niacin, or nicotinic acid, is a substituted pyridine derivative.
The biologically active coenzyme forms are nicotinamide
adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) & nicotinamide adenine
dinucleotide phosphate (NADP+)
NAD+ and NADP+ serve as coenzymes
in oxidation-reduction reactions by accepting a
hydride ion (hydrogen atom plus one electron. The
reduced forms of NAD+ and NADP+ are NADH and
NADPH, respectively.
Pantothenic Acid or B5
• Essential to all forms of life
• It is found throughout living cells in the form of
coenzyme A (CoA), vital in numerous chemical
reactions
• Required for the metabolism of carbohydrate, all
fats and proteins
• At least 70 enzymes have been identified as
requiring CoA or for their function
Vitamin B7, BIOTIN
Biotin is a coenzyme in carboxylation reactions,
serves as a carrier of activated carbon dioxid.
Biotin is covalently bound to the amino groups of
lysine residues in biotin-dependent enzymes
lysyl group is a α-aminoacyl group
Folate and neural tube defects in the fetus:
Spina bifida and anencephaly, the most common
neural tube defects, affect
approximately 4,000 pregnancies in the United
State annually.
Folic acid supplementation before conception
and during the first trimester has been shown to
significantly reduce the defects.
Therefore, all women of childbearing age are
advised to consume 0.4 mg/day of folic acid to
reduce the risk.
Anencephaly
Pernicious anemia:
Lack of intrinsic factor prevents the absorption of vitamin B12,
resulting in pernicious anemia.
a glycoprotein called intrinsic factor binds to vitamin B12 from the
diet .The cobalamin– intrinsic factor complex binds to specific
receptors on the surface of mucosal cells of the ileum. The bound
cobalamin is transported into the mucosal cell and,
subsequently,into the general circulation.
ASCORBIC ACID (VITAMIN C)
The active form of vitamin C is
ascorbic acid
(2,3-dehydro-L-gulono-1,4-lactone,
vitamin C) is derived from L-gulonic
acid.
L-gulose
L-gulonic acid L-gulono-1,4-
lactone
– 2H – 2H
L-ascorbic acid dehydro-L-ascorbic acid
Digestion and absorption of water
soluble vitamin
