Notes on Vitamins

Vitamins a group of organic molecules which are derived from microorganisms and are essential for human nutrition. All vitamins undergo intracellular changes (activation) which render them cofactors, in which they interact with a specific enzyme proteins to participate in the production of transition states of reactions. Fat-soluble vitamins: A (retinol, retinoic acid, retinal) D (1,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol) E (tocopherol) K (phylloquinone) Water-soluble vitamins: B1 (thiamine) B2 (riboflavin) B3 (niacin) B6 (pyridoxine) B12 (cobalamin) Folic Acid Biotin Pantothenic Acid C (ascorbic acid) Fat-Soluble Vitamins Vitamin A: Chief function is in the eye, where it supports dark vision and normal structure of the conjunctiva and cornea. Vitamin D: Considered by many to be a hormone. Chief action of vitamin D is to enhance the synthesis of calcium-binding protein, which increases calcium and phosphate absorption by the intestine. The process enables bone to produce hydroxyapatite (the crystalline structure that gives bone its characteristic hardness). The human skin produces an activated cholesterol molecule utilizing the suns UV radiation, from which vitamin D is synthesized in the liver. Deficiency can lead to rickets in children and osteomalacia in adults. Vitamin E: Chief function of vitamin E is as an antioxidant in cells throughout the body, suppressing the oxidation of polyunsaturated fatty acids by free radicals. Vitamin E is recognized as an important defense in maintenance of CNS integrity. It also acts in the same capacity in the red cell, protecting against excessive hemolysis. Vitamin E also increases sperm motility. Vitamin K: Vitamin K is a key element in the intrinsic coagulation pathway. Vitamin K is essential for the conversion of glutamate residues to gamma-carboxyglutamate in the prothrombin molecule, which then enables prothrombin to bind calcium, an essential step for its function in the coagulation cascade.

Water-Soluble Vitamins Vitamin B1: Once activated, thiamine is a cofactor for many critical reactions, including those mediated by dehydrogenases; a pivotal step in energy production is the pyruvate dehydrogenase reaction, which converts a 3-carbon fragment (pyruvate) to acetyl coenzyme A (the acetyl CoA either enters the Krebs Citric Acid cycle or can be utilized in fatty acid synthesis). Deficiency in thiamine results in beri-beri. Vitamin B2: Ingested riboflavin, derived primarily from animal sources in the diet, is converted enzymatically to flavin mononucleotide (FMN) or to flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) (both are involved in mitochondrial reactions). Riboflavin deficiency does not have a well-defined clinical state associated with it (as other water-soluble vitamins do). Riboflavin is also a cofactor in the production of niacin and pyridoxine in humans. Vitamin B3: Niacin can be produced in limited quantities by humans from the dietary amino acid tryptophan. Riboflavin is a cofactor in this process. From the basic compound (nicotinic acid), activations produced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) and an additional phosphorylation reaction produced NADP. Deficiency in niacin causes the disease pellagra. Vitamin B6: Pyridoxine comprises a pyridine nucleus which is substituted in one of three ways: It occurs in plant foods as pyridoxamine, and in animal foods as either pyridoxal (the aldehyde) or pyridoxol (the alcohol). The alcohol-substituted form has no biological but it can be converted either to the aldehyde or the amine (both of which function as cofactors). Of all water-soluble vitamins, pyridoxine is the one involved in the most diverse biochemical reactions. Isolated B6 deficiency is almost never seen in a clinical setting. Vitamin B12: Cobalamin is of critical importance despite being involved as a cofactor in only two reactions in the human body. Cobalamin is synthesized exclusively by microorganisms and is therefore not present in plants. Vitamin B12 is found in high concentration in animal livers. Cobalamin is bound to a specific transfer protein produced in the stomach (intrinsic factor). In intracellular biology, cobalamin enters one of two enzymatic conversion steps: within the cytosol it is converted to methylcobalamin, while in the mitochondria it becomes adenosylcobalamin. As methylcobalamin, B12 is involved in reconversion of homocysteine to methionine, in the process generating tetrahydrofolate (which is critical in the conversion of methylmalonyl CoA to succinyl CoA. Failure to negotiate this enzymatic step results in severe clinical disease manifest as methylmalonic academia. Cobalamin deficiency is manifested in pernicious anemia. Folic Acid: Folic acid is a group of compounds based upon a pteridine ring substituted with glutamic acid linked through para-aminobenzoic acid. Folic acid is the key component of the 1-carbon transfer system so critical to nucleic acid synthesis. Not only is folate deficiency a serious disorder in adults, causing severe anemia, folate deficiency during pregnancy can adversely affect the neural growth plate of the fetus, resulting in neural tube malformations. Biotin: Biotin is the cofactor for carbon dioxide fixation or carboxylation reactions. There are four such reactions: First, fatty acid synthesis depends upon this process, which utilizes acetyl CoA carboxylase to produce the 3-carbon malonyl CoA. Second, a biotin-dependent enzyme is propionyl CoA carboxylase (which is the reaction producing methylmalonyl CoA). Third, b-methylcrotonyl CoA carboxylase is a

step in leucine catabolism. The fourth is pyruvate carboxylase (which is a key enzyme in gluconeogenesis). Biotin deficiency results in loss of appetite, dimished activity, a skin rash and hair loss, and in its extreme form can mimic a genetic disorder resulting in the absence of the holocarboxylase synthase. Pantothenic Acid: Pentothenic acid is an integral part of the coenzyme A molecule and functions as a cofactor in transfer of acyl groups. Acyl-group transfer is a key metabolic reaction in fatty acid synthesis and catabolism, amino acid catabolism and normal function of the Krebs citric acid cycle. Isolated pantothenic acid deficiency has not yet been described in humans. Vitamin C: Unlike other vitamins, vitamin C does not bind chemically to a protein in order to function. Ascorbate has a valuable metabolic role as a mild reducing agent since it donates H ions at precisely the proper energy level to maintain the reduced state of vital metal ions (especially Cu and Fe). As a result, vitamin C maintains the integrity of important metalloenzymes involved in collagen synthesis and steroidgenesis (as well as maintenance of cytochromes and intestinal absorption of Fe). Vitamin C deficiency causes scurvy (a disease with many clinical findings such as gingival hemorrhage and death).