Nutrition specific vitamins

Blot WJ, Li YW, Taylor PR, et al. Nutrition intervention in Linxian, china supplementation with specific vitamin/mineral combinations, cancer incidence, and disease specific mortality in the general population. J Natl Cancer Inst 1993 85 1483-1492. 

SPECIFIC VITAMIN AND MINERAL SUPPLEMENTATION FOR NUTRITIONAL DEFICIENCIES ... 

This severe CNS di.sorder results from the combination of extreme nutritional deficiency, specifically Vitamin B, or thiamine, and chronic heavy drinking. Basically there are two diseases. 

A lot of controversy exists at present regarding the use of nutritional supplements in pregnancy. In animal husbandry, the use of nutritional supplements for reproduction and pregnancy is widely recognized. Folic acid and iodine are the only two of all nutrients that are contained in foods. Recently it has become evident that supplementation with specific vitamins, minerals and lo-3 fatty acids (rather than just taking a few separate ones) can have a positive impact on maternal health and the long-term health of the baby. 

The DRI for pregnancy should be met for all vitamins and minerals. Medical food is the source of many vitamins and minerals in the maternal PKU diet however, if not taken as prescribed or if the medical food does not contain a full complanent of vitamins and minerals, intakes may be low. Vitamins and minerals that are of particular concern in maternal PKU are vitamin B,2 and folate [14]. Low intakes have been correlated with increased risk of CHD. Deficiencies in zinc, iron, and vitamin B12 may be seen in MPKU as these nutrients are most often found in high-protein foods that individuals with PKU do not usually consume. Prenatal supplements or specific vitamins and mineral supplementation may be necessary if monitoring of intake and/or if nutritional biomarkers indicate a problem. 

The present paper will be confined to a discussion of the role of the vitamins in antibody production. Actually, with the possible exception of the proteins (Cannon, 1945), very little attention has been given to the relationships of other dietary constituents to antibody synthesis. A review of the older literature in this field reveals an extensive volume of conflicting data with no unequivocal evidence to indicate that any specific vitamin deficiency invariably leads to impaired antibody production. An accurate assessment of many of these earlier researches is difficult because of the questionable specificity of the deficiency under study as well as the failure to utilize adequate inanition controls. These studies have been reviewed in the literature references cited above, and it is not felt that detailed discussion of them is warranted at this time. We will concern ourselves with the more recent studies in this field, which have been conducted mainly with modem techniques designed to produce well-defined deficiency states and which have utilized adequate controls. It shall be our purpose to survey the present trends in this field, to indicate the gaps in our knowledge, and to suggest further application of nutritional techniques to various immunological problems. 

Aside from specific vitamin-deficiency diseases and a few other specific diseases the field of nutrition generally has only recently been allowed to make real contributions in the treatment of disease. There is... 

It is becoming increasingly apparent that many nutritional factors contribute either positively or negatively to total immunocompetence in experimental animals. Among the nutritional factors affecting immunity are intakes of protein, calories, vitamins and minerals. Certain metals, i.e., mercury and nickel appear to be generally immunosuppressive. Required for proper humoral immunity includes vitamins, the essential amino acids, the essential fatty acids and minerals. Effects upon immunity of specific vitamins and minerals protein and calories are subjects of this symposium. 

In 1922, Evans and Bishop named the animal nutritional factor essential of reproduction Vitamin E . In the 1960s, vitamin E was associated with antioxidant function. Twenty-five years later, vitamin E has been found to possess functions that are independent of its antioxidant and free radical scavenging ability. a-Tocopherol specific molecular mechanisms were discovered which are still under investigation. 

Vitamins, microorganisms, and enzymes are susceptible to inactivation or destruction in an extruder. Removal of microorganisms and enzymes is desirable in most cases, but vitamin retention is important for nutritional considerations (Bjorck and Asp, 1983). Survival of vitamins increases if moisture is increased and if temperature, screw speed, and specific energy input decrease (Killeit, 1994). Vitamin loss may be compensated by adding more than the necessary amount of preextrusion or by applying a vitamin coating, filling, or spray postextrusion. 

No specific dietary restrictions are recommended for patients with IBD, but avoidance of high-residue foods in patients with strictures may help to prevent obstruction. Nutritional strategies in patients with long-standing IBD may include use of vitamin and mineral supplementation. Administration of vitamin B12, folic acid, fat-soluble vitamins, and iron may be needed to prevent or treat deficiencies. In severe cases, enteral or parenteral nutrition maybe needed to achieve adequate caloric intake. 

Much of the toxicological interest in cyanide relating to mammals has focused on its rapid lethal action. However, its most widely distributed toxicologic problems are due to its toxicity from dietary, industrial, and environmental factors (Way 1981, 1984 Gee 1987 Marrs and Ballantyne 1987 Eisler 1991). Chronic exposure to cyanide is correlated with specific human diseases Nigerian nutritional neuropathy, Leber s optical atrophy, retrobulbar neuritis, pernicious anemia, tobacco amblyopia, cretinism, and ataxic tropical neuropathy (Towill etal. 1978 Way 1981 Sprine etal. 1982 Beminger et al. 1989 Ukhun and Dibie 1989). The effects of chronic cyanide intoxication are confounded by various nutritional factors, such as dietary deficiencies of sulfur-containing amino acids, proteins, and water-soluble vitamins (Way 1981). 

Nutritional deficiency diseases are relatively rare in the temperate zone. The etiology of numerous other clinical conditions involve vitamin deficiencies, due to faults in absorption, transfer, or utilization. Because of the central position of the vitamins as sources of coenzymes, such functional deficiencies are important in malabsorption, where the picture is often complicated by multiple deficiencies, in anemias where the defect is in general highly specific, and in many other diseases where the deficiency is secondary to other pathologic events, but nevertheless of grave consequences. 

Microbiological assay should stress accuracy over precision. Standardization of an assay method should include comparisons with at least one other organism having a different nutritional pattern and specificity toward the compound being assayed. Such a comparison was made for cyanocobalamin (vitamin Bi2 ) content of human blood and serum, using four microorganisms differing in their cobamide requirements and metabolism (B9). 

F2. Ford, J. E., Microbiological assay of vitamin B12. The specificity of the requirement of Ochromonas malhamensis for cyanocobalamin. Brit. J. Nutrition 7, 299-306 (1953). 

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