Vitamins aging

Factors which alter /3-glucuronidase in tissue have been described as hormones, vitamins, age, and othere. The studies on renotrophic actiort of /3-gIucuronidase to androgen have produced one of the clearest models of hormone-enzyme reaction. This research clarified one facet of the triangular relationship which unites the enzyme, membi-ane, and hormone action. 

Pure selenium deficiency, without concurrent vitamin E deficiency, is not generally seen except in animals on experimental diets (113). In China, selenium deficiency in humans has been associated with Keshan disease, a cardiomyopathy seen in children and in women of child-bearing ages, and Kashin-Beck disease, an endemic osteoarthritis in adolescents (113). 

Vitamin E [59-02-9] C2c,H q02, has been studied for its potential to modulate prostaglandin metaboHsm and alter immune response in aged mice. 

The age pigments (lipofuscin), which accumulate with age, aie largely made up of these precipitated Hpid-proteia complexes resultiag from such cross-linking. Vitamin E may function to help prevent formation of these complexes. The metaboHc role of antioxidants (qv) such as vitamin E in animal tissues, however, remains quite controversial. 

Smaller pool sizes with normal semm B 2 levels may be maintained with dietary intakes below 1 pg. However, more substantial pool sizes are considered advantageous as protection against the development of pernicious anemia, which may occur in advanced age achlorhydria becomes more common after age 60, resulting in compromised absorption of vitamin 2-... 

The recommended daily allowance for vitamin E ranges from 10 international units (1 lU = 1 mg all-rac-prevent vitamin E deficiency in humans. High levels enhance immune responses in both animals and humans. Requirements for animals vary from 3 USP units /kg diet for hamsters to 70 lU /kg diet for cats (13). The complete metaboHsm of vitamin E in animals or humans is not known. The primary excreted breakdown products of a-tocopherol in the body are gluconurides of tocopheronic acid (27) (Eig. 6). These are derived from the primary metaboUte a-tocopheryl quinone (9) (see Eig. 2) (44,45). 

It is recommended that women of childbearing age take 400 pg/d synthetic folic acid as a supplement in order to reduce the risk of neural tube defects of the embryo when they later become pregnant (periconcep-tional folic acid supplementation) [2]. When supplementing folic acid, it should be considered that this vitamin can mask the simultaneous presence of vitamin B12 deficiency. The typical symptom of vitamin B12 deficiency, megaloblastic (= macrocytic) anemia, will be reduced by high doses of folic acid, yet the nervous system will - in the long run - be irreversibly damaged (= funicular myelitis) when vitamin B12 is not provided as well. 

This illness is mainly characterized by an age-related bone loss. The detection of osteocalcin in bone was the starting point for a series of studies on the role of vitamin K-dependent proteins in bone development and maintenance and on possible supplemantation therapies. Epidemiologic studies found differences in the risk of hip fractures depending on the dietary vitamin K... 

Colvin RM, Pinnell SR (1996) Topical vitamin C in aging. Clin Dermatol 14 227-234... 

Blacher J, Safar ME Homocysteine, folic acid, B vitamins and cardiovascular risk. J Nutr Health Aging 2001 5 196. 

Osteoporosis Commonly postmenopausal or In other cases Is more gradual and related to age a small number of cases are due to mutations In the COL lA 1 and COL 1A2 genes and possibly In the vitamin D receptor gene (MIM 166710)... 

Snodderly, D.M., Evidence for protection against age-related macular degeneration by carotenoids and antioxidant vitamins. Am. J. Clin. Nutr, 62, 1448S, 1995. 

In the Unites States, the daily intake of 3-carotene is around 2 mg/day Several epidemiological studies have reported that consumption of carotenoid-rich foods is associated with reduced risks of certain chronic diseases such as cancers, cardiovascular disease, and age-related macular degeneration. These preventive effects of carotenoids may be related to their major function as vitamin A precursors and/or their actions as antioxidants, modulators of the immune response, and inducers of gap-junction communications. Not all carotenoids exert similar protective effects against specific diseases. By reason of the potential use of carotenoids as natural food colorants and/or for their health-promoting effects, research has focused on better understanding how they are absorbed by and metabolized in the human body. 

Health benefits — Research reports indicate that natural (3-carotene possesses numerous benefits for the human body and consistently supports the use of (3-carotene as part of the human diet. The human body converts (3-carotene to vitamin A via body tissues as opposed to the liver, hence avoiding a build-up of toxins in the liver. Vitamin A is essential for the human body in that it assists the immune system and helps battle eye diseases such as cataracts and night blindness, various skin ailments such as acne, signs of aging, and various forms of cancer. 

Possibly the most significant discovery in the metabolism of aromatic azo compounds had implications that heralded the age of modem chemotherapy. It was shown that the bactericidal effect of the azo dye Prontosil in vivo was in fact due to the action of its transformation product, sulfanilamide, which is an antagonist of 4-aminobenzoate that is required for the synthesis of the vitamin folic acid. Indeed, this reduction is the typical reaction involved in the first stage of the biodegradation of aromatic azo compounds. 

In a recent study, serum ascorbate concentrations were significantly reduced in a group of elderly diabetic patients (w = 40, mean age 69 years) in comparison with an age-matched group of non-diabetic controls ( = 22, mean age 71 years), and this reduction was more pronounced in those patients with microangiopathy (Sinclair et al., 1991). Diabetic patients were shown to have a high serum dehydroascorbate/ascorbate ratio indicative of increased oxidative stress. Ascorbate deficiency was partially corrected by vitamin C supplementation, 1 g daily by mouth, but the obvious disturbance in ascorbate metabolism in the diabetic patients was accentuated, since serum ascorbate concentrations fell (after the initial rise) despite continued vitamin C supplementation (Fig. 12.3). 

Routine antioxidant vitamin supplementation, e.g. with vitamins C and/or E, of the diabetic diet should be considered. Vitamin C depletion is present in all diabetics irrespective of the presence of vascular disease. A recent study demonstrated no significant difference between the dietary intake of vitamin C (the main determinant of plasma ascorbate) in patients with diabetes and age-matched controls, confirming the view that ascorbate depletion is secondary to the diabetic process and su esting that diabetic patients require additional intakes of the vitamin to maintain optimal levels (Sinclair et /., 1994). Antioxidant supplementation may have additive beneficial effects on a wide variety of processes involved in diabetic vascular damage including blood pressure, immune function, inflammatory reactions. 

Whey proteins are known to increase immune response and maintain muscle mass (Phillips et ah, 2009). In one instance, when an immunosti-mulatory vitamin and mineral mixture developed at Tufts University Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging was blended with texturized WPI (TWPI) in an extruded snack bar, immunostimulatory effects were enhanced in young (< 5 months) and old (> 22 months) mice fed ad libitum for 5 weeks. The mineral mixture and TWPI improved T cell proliferation and reduced upregulated production of proinflammatory mediators in... 

Some osteoporosis risk factors (see Table 53-1) are non-modifiable, including family history, age, ethnicity, sex, and concomitant disease states. However, certain risk factors for bone loss may be minimized or prevented by early intervention, including smoking, low calcium intake, poor nutrition, inactivity, heavy alcohol use, and vitamin D deficiency. 

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