Vitamin & Vitamin containing

Drugs

Vitamin Facts
Vitamins are essential organic nutrients,
required in small amounts.
They cannot be synthesized by the
body. Must be obtained by outside
sources like diet, bacteria & sun.
Required for growth, maintenance,
reproduction and lactation.

Classes of Vitamins
Fat Soluble Vitamins: Water Soluble Vitamins:
stored in tissues
not stored in tissues, must
have constant supply
Examples
Examples
A
D
Vitamin B1, B2, B3, B5, B6,
B7, B9, B12
E
K
C

Function, Deficiency Signs & Sources

Vitamin A
Function: development healthy skin and nerve tissue.
Aids in building up resistance to infection. Functions in
eyesight and bone formation. ALL ANIMALS require a
source of Vitamin A. It is important in the ration of
pregnant females.
Deficiency signs: retarded growth in the young, the
development of a peculiar condition around the eyes
known as Xerophthalmia, night blindness and
reproductive disorders.
Sources: whole milk, carotene, animal body oils (cod
fish and tuna), legume forages and can be synthetically
produced.

Vitamin D
Function: is essential for the proper utilization of
calcium and phosphorus to produce normal, healthy
bones.
Deficiency signs: retarded growth, misshapen bones
(rickets), lameness and osteoporosis.
Sources: Whole milk, sun-cured hays, forage crops,
fish liver oils, irradiated yeast.

Vitamin E
Function: normal reproduction.
Deficiency signs: poor growth, "crazy chick" disease,
Muscular Dystrophy, "white muscle" disease in
ruminants and swine and "stiff lamb" disease (affects
the nerves and muscles).
Sources: synthetic for poultry and swine, cereal grains
and wheat germ oil, green forages, protein
concentrates, oil seeds (peanut and soybean oil).

Vitamin K
Function: necessary for the maintenance of normal
blood coagulation.
Deficiency signs: blood loses its power to clot or the
time needed for clotting is longer and serious
hemorrhages can result from slight wounds or bruises.
Sources: green leafy forages, fish meal, liver,
soybeans, rumen and intestinal synthesis, and the
synthetic compounds.

Vitamin C (Ascorbic acid)

Function: has an effect on the metabolism of calcium in
the body.
Deficiency signs: Human deficiency: scurvy (swollen
and painful joints and bleeding gums) and brittleness of
bones.
Sources: citrus fruits, tomatoes, leafy vegetables and
potatoes.

Vitamin B1 (Thiamin)
Function: required for the normal metabolism of
carbohydrates.
Deficiency signs: loss of appetite, muscular weakness,
severe nervous disorders, general weakness and wasting
(BeriBeri).
Sources: raw, whole grains and especially their seed coats
and embryos; fresh green forage; and yeast, milk and
rumen synthesis.

Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin)
Function: necessary for normal embryo development,
important in the metabolism of amino acids and
carbohydrates.
Deficiency signs: poor reproduction characterized by
small litters and deformed young (cleft palate and clubfootedness) curly toe paralysis in chicks, digestive
disturbances, general weakness and eye abnormalities.
Sources: milk and dairy by-products, yeast, green
forages, well cured hay (especially alfalfa), whole grains,
wheat bran and synthetic riboflavin rumen synthesis.

Vitamin B3 (Nicotinic Acid)

(a precursor for NAD).
Also known as niacin. (needed for making CoA).
Function: NAD+ is needed for glycolysis, NADH gets
oxidized in electron transport chain, etc.
Deficiency signs: pellagra, which is characterized by
diarrhea, dermatitis, and dementia, hyperpigmentation,
thickening of the skin, inflammation of the mouth and tongue,
digestive disturbances, amnesia, delirium, and eventually
death, if left untreated.
Sources: milk and dairy by-products, yeast, green
forages, well cured hay (especially alfalfa), whole grains,
wheat bran and synthetic riboflavin rumen synthesis.

Vitamin B5 (pantothenic acid)

(needed for making CoA)
Function:
We get pantothenic acid in our diet as CoA, which must be
broken down to pantothenic acid to be absorbed in intestine.
We then use the pantothenic acid in making our own CoA.
Deficiency signs: Paresthesia
Sources:Meat, broccoli, avocados

Vitamin B6 (pyridoxine)
Function:Precursor for Pyridoxal phosphate (PLP).
PLP is a covalently linked cofactor to transaminases, and some
decarboxylases, and glycogen phosphorylase; these are called
PLP-dependent enzymes.
Deficiency signs: Anemia peripheral neuropathy.
Sources: Meat, vegetables, tree nuts,bananas

Vitamin B7 (Biotin)
Function:Used in fatty acid synthesis, also other functions.
Deficiency signs: Dermatitis, enteritis

Biotin deficiency is rare.

Sources: Raw egg yolk, liver, peanuts, leafy green vegetables

Vitamin B9 (Folic acid, folinic acid)

Function:Required for synthesis of glycine, methionine,
nucleotides T & U. Important for rapidly dividing cells (very
important in early pregnancy).
Deficiency signs: Megaloblastic anemiaand Deficiency during
pregnancy is associated with birth defects, such as neural
tube defects.
Folic acid is now added to many grain products in the US.
Sources: Leafy vegetables, pasta, bread, cereal, liver

Vitamin B12
(Cyanocobalamin/Hydroxocobalamin/Methylcob
alamin)
Function:
We saw cobalamine in fatty acid oxidation.
Cobalamin is needed in making adenosylcobalamin, a cofactor for
methyl malonyl mutase, which breaks down odd-chain fatty
acids.
B12 is also used in regenerating folate
Deficiency signs:Megaloblastic anemia
Sources:Meat and other animal products

Cod liver oil

Cod liver oil is a nutritional
supplement derived from liver
of cod fish .As with most fish
oils, it has high levels of
the omega-3 fatty
acids, eicosapentaenoic
acid (EPA)
and docosahexaenoic
acid (DHA). Cod liver oil also
contains vitamin A and vitamin
D.

Shark liver oil

Shark liver oil is an oil obtained from
the livers of sharks.
principal component of many shark
oils is squalene,
a triterpenoid (C30H50)-90%

Hilsa fish liver oil

Vitamin C

Vocabulary Review
Nutrients: chemical substances in food that are
used by the body to produce energy and
tissues.
Vitamins:

essential organic nutrients, required in

small amounts, that cannot be synthesized
by the body. Required for growth,
maintenance, reproduction and lactation.

Vitamin deficiency: decline in health due to the lack of

a vitamin in a ration.

Vocabulary Review
Fat soluble vitamin: a vitamin that can be stored and
accumulated in the liver and other fatty tissues.
Water soluble vitamin: a vitamin that cannot be stored
in the tissues. Must be provided regularly as
deficiencies can develop in a short time.
Minerals:

essential inorganic compounds, required in

small amounts. Required for growth,
maintenance, reproduction and lactation.