Rats of four groups were fed vitamin E deficient or supplemented diets containing 5.6 or 15.6% linoleic acid for 100 days. The rats fed vitamin E deficient diets displayed signs of vitamin E deficiency as shown in erythrocytes hemolysis value and blood tocopherol content. The rats fed vitamin E supplemented (2mg/100g) diet containing 15.6% linoleic acid displayed borderline deficiency signs. The amounts of lipid peroxides in blood and liver were higher in rats fed vitamin E deficient diets and were significantly increased by dietary linoleic acid. Morphologically the most striking changes in the hepatocytes of vitamin E deficient rats were occurrence of large numbers of microbodies. lysosomes. lipofuscin. lipid droplets and enlarged mitochondria. The number of micro-bodies per hepatocyte increased and was 1.5 times greater than that in E-supplemented rats. The mitochondria were enlarged with dense matrix and indistinct outer membrane. The number of lysosomes and microbodies were further increased in the hepatocytes of rats fed vitamin E deficient diets containing 15.6% linoleic acid. Peroxidase reaction product was histochemically found in microbodies and in a rim of lipid droplets. Acid phosphatase reaction was found in primary lysosomes and weak reaction in the matrix of residual bodies or lipofuscin. The increases in activities of peroxidase and acid phosphatase in hepatocytes of rats fed vitamin E deficient diet containing linoleic acid appear to be in response to the increased lipid peroxidation which occurred in the liver of these rats.

View full abstract

Rats of four groups were fed vitamin E deficient or supplemented diets containing 5.6 or 15.6% linoleic acid for 100 days. The amounts of lipid peroxides in cardiac muscle were higher in rats fed vitamin E deficient diet containing 15.6% linoleic acid than that of E supplemented rats. In the vitamin E deficient rats. a large amount of PAS-positive lipofuscin granules occurred in the perinuclear region and periphery of muscle fibers. Two types of lipofuscin. large droplet-like form and small granular type, were observed in the cardiac muscle of rats fed vitamin E deficient diet containing 15.6% linoleic acid. The droplet form lipofuscin lying between mitochondria is considered to be formed by degeneration of mitochondria or degradation of lipid droplets. The granular type pigments were accumulated in the cisternae of sarcoplasmic reticulum. The disarrangement of myofilaments and indistinct Z bands were observed in some myofibrils lying close to the accumulation of lipofuscin. The mitochondria were hypertrophied with dense or swollen matrix. Acid phosphatase reaction products occurred in lysosomes lying in perinuclear zone and between mitochondria and in the cisternae of sarcoplasmic reticulum lying along the T systems. Peroxidase occurred in the microbodies between mitochondria and cristae of some enlarged mitochondria. The significance of these enzymes in formation of lipofuscin was discussed.

View full abstract

Oxidation of thiamine by BrCN-NaOH method gave two clearly distinct fluorescent products when developed through a gel filtration chromatography and also when developed by two solvent systems in a thin layer chromatography. Further, a third fluorescent oxidation product was detected in a small amount when a large amount (70mg) of thiamine was similarly oxidized and developed by the gel filtration chromatography. Oxidation of thiamine by K_3Fe(CN)_6-NaOH method gave a single fluorescent product, which was identical with an authentic sample of thiochrome. The two major oxidation products obtained by BrCN-NaOH method (Thc I and Thc II) were crystallized and compared with the standard sample of thiochrome in mixed melting point test, IR spectra, thin layer chromatography, NMR spectra, Mass spectra, UV absorption spectra and fluorescence spectra. It was concluded from those data that Thc I is the same compound as the authentic thiochrome and Thc II is a different product. These two oxidation products showed, however, nearly the same UV absorption spectra and fluorescence spectra. From the spectrophotometric and fluorophotometric properties of Thc I and Thc II, we conclude that the BrCN-NaOH method is still one of the most valuable assay method of thiamine.

View full abstract

Quantitative and qualitative changes in lung proteins after exposure to 100% oxygen for 40 hours were examined in the vitamin E deficient rats, as an indicator of severity of tissue damage. 1. A decrease in SH groups was observed in the lungs of oxygen exposure groups. It was more marked in the sediment fractions than in the supernatant fractions of the lung homogenates, especially in the vitamin E deficient group. 2. An increase in lung protein content was observed only in the supernatant fractions of lungs after exposure to oxygen. It was more marked in the vitamin E deficient group than in the supplemented group. 3. Hemoglobin content in the supernatant fractions of lungs paralleled with changes in protein content. 4. On the basis of eledtrophoretic analysis, changes in lung protein content resulted from increase in serum proteins and hemolysate proteins in the supernatant fractions, apart from lung tissue protein itself. 5. A decrease in DNA content was observed in the lung tissues after exposure to oxygen. It was more marked in the vitamin E deficient group than in the supplemented group.

View full abstract