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Department of Molecular Biosciences University of California, Davis Davis, CA 95616 E-mail: jgmorris{at}ucdavis.edu
In the preface to Vitamins in Animal and Human Nutrition, the author states "It is hoped that this book will be...used as a text book and as an authoritative reference book for use by research and extension specialists, feed manufacturers, teachers, student and others. An attempt has been made to provide a balance between animal nutrition and clinical human nutrition." In catering to such a broad audience, it is inevitable that major shortcomings will ensue.
The layout of the book is conventional, with no attempt to group vitamins according to functional roles. Chapter 1 contains a general introduction to vitamins; chapters 2–15 are devoted to the individual established vitamins. Chapters 16–18 discuss carnitine, vitamin-like substances, and essential fatty acids. The justification given for the inclusion of essential fatty acids is that "although essential fatty acids (EFA) are not vitamins by definition, a deficiency disease or condition with dietary insufficiency does result, and in some ways, a similarity to vitamin deficiencies can be seen." The last chapter of the text is devoted to vitamin supplementation.
With minor exceptions, the information in each chapter is given in the following format: brief history, chemical structure and properties, analytic methods, metabolism, functions, requirements, natural sources, deficiency, supplementation, toxicity, and references. The historical aspects of each vitamin are brief and adequately covered. The sections on chemical structure, analytic methods, metabolism, and functions are in general superficial and often not current. The sections on analytic techniques lack insight into current methodology and list many outdated biological assays. Obsolete physicochemical analytic methods are also listed, eg, for vitamin A the Carr-Price reaction is listed alongside HPLC methods.
The metabolism section gives a brief discussion of absorption, transport, storage, and excretion, but does not address vitamin turnover. Although many of the functions of vitamins are described in general terms, the molecular basis of these functions is either missing or deemphasized. For example, it is stated that "Vitamin E reacts or functions as a chain breaking antioxidant," but the mechanism by which tocopherols quench free radicals is not given. Similarly, for vitamin K, it is stated that "anticoagulants of the coumarin type interfere with 2,3-epoxide reductase," but how the reductase fits into the function and metabolism of the vitamin is not explained.
The largest section, entitled "Deficiency," deals with vitamin deficiencies, particularly in domesticated animals and to a lesser extent in humans. Much of the information on requirements was derived from publications of the National Research Council. This section includes photographs of vitamin deficiencies in animals and a few in humans. Many of the animal photographs (eg, Figures 2.7 and 2.11) are old, are of poor quality, and would better have been replaced by a concise description of the clinical signs and pathology involved.
This book is unlikely to appeal to clinicians because it is neither a fundamental text nor a source of clearly clinical indexes that could be used to define vitamin deficiencies. It may be useful as a reference book for an undergraduate course in general nutrition or for livestock feed manufacturers. Readers who seek a comprehensive, up-to-date review of vitamins should consult the excellent book from Marcel Dekker Inc titled Handbook of Vitamins (Rucker RB, Suttie JL, McCormick B, Machlin LJ, eds. Handbook of vitamins. 3rd ed. New York: Marcel Dekker Inc, 2001).