PHAR 300 Lecture 20: Vitamins

• School: McGill University
• Department: Pharmacology and Therapeutics
• Course: PHAR 300
• Professor: Edith Zorychta

Document Summary

Essential in trace amounts for normal growth and function. Vitamins are essential for all body function. Each vitamin has a recommended daily allowance. Range from minor (e. g. skin problems) to major (e. g. Range from minor (e. g. skin problems) to major (e. g. death) Fat soluble - can be stored for variable times. Water soluble - need almost continuous intake. Sources of vitamin a and beta-carotene: vitamin a comes from animal sources such as eggs, meat and dairy products, beta-carotene, a precursor of vitamin a, comes from green, leafy vegetables and intensely. Vision: retinal can alternate between cis and trans forms, photons of light can change the structure from cis to trans. This is the mechanism of the eye: have rods and cones - specialized neurons designed to respond to the visible portion of uv light. 2: rhodopsin in rods are highly sensitive to light. Photons convert cis to trans retinal, disrupt link to opsin.