The Fat–soluble Vitamins in Metabolic Processes

Even with Professor Dam (1953) undertaking the discussion of vitamin K it will be impossible for me to present a comprehensive and fully documented account of the role of the fat-soluble vitamins in metabolism in the short space at my disposal.The ground to be covered includes several popular and highly specialized fields of research, such as the role of vitamin A in dark adaptation, the influence of vitamin D on calcification, and the action of vitamin E as a biological antioxidant and as a protective agent against muscular dystrophy and liver injuries.Any of these topics could be made the subject of a substantial monograph, and a short review which must make reference to them all can be little more than a brief summary of some of the main facts and theories. Contrasts between vitamins A, D and EBefore our attention is turned to the individual vitamins, however, we may pause to recall the interesting differences in their modes of formation, transport and destruction in the body.Thus the animal is not able to synthesize provitamins A,