Vitamins

  • A vitamin is an organic molecule that is an essential micronutrient that an organism needs in small quantities for the proper functioning of its metabolism. Essential nutrients cannot be synthesized in the organism, either at all or not in sufficient quantities, and therefore must be obtained through the diet.

Vitamin A

  • Fat soluble
  • Toxic in high doses
  • Store in liver
  • Occurs in three forms: Retinol, Retinal and Retinoic Acid
  • Vitamin A is a group of unsaturated nutritional organic compounds that includes retinol, retinal, retinoic acid, and several provitamin A carotenoids. Vitamin A has multiple functions: it is important for growth and development, for the maintenance of the immune system and good vision.

Retinoic Acid

  • Retinoic acid is a metabolite of vitamin A₁ that mediates the functions of vitamin A₁ required for growth and development. All-trans-retinoic acid is required in chordate animals, which includes all higher animals from fish to humans.

Vitamin D

  • Vitamin D is a group of fat-soluble secosteroids responsible for increasing intestinal absorption of calcium, magnesium, and phosphate, and multiple other biological effects. In humans, the most important compounds in this group are vitamin D₃ and vitamin D₂.
  • Regulates intestinal absorption of calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphate, and zinc

Cholecalciferol

  • Cholecalciferol, also known as vitamin D₃ and colecalciferol, is a type of vitamin D which is made by the skin when exposed to sunlight; it is also found in some foods and can be taken as a dietary supplement. It is used to treat and prevent vitamin D deficiency and associated diseases, including rickets.

Calcifediol

  • Calcifediol, also known as calcidiol, 25-hydroxycholecalciferol, or 25-hydroxyvitamin D, is a prehormone that is produced in the liver by hydroxylation of vitamin D₃ by the enzyme cholecalciferol 25-hydroxylase. Physicians worldwide measure this metabolite to determine a patient’s vitamin D status.

Calcium

  • Calcium is a chemical element with the symbol Ca and atomic number 20. As an alkaline earth metal, calcium is a reactive metal that forms a dark oxide-nitride layer when exposed to air. Its physical and chemical properties are most similar to its heavier homologues strontium and barium.

Vitamin K

  • Fat soluble vitamin with roles in blood clothing and bone health
  • Stored in fat tissue
  • Most abundant in green leafy vegetables
  • Stable in air, decomposes in sunlight
  • Vitamin K is a group of structurally similar, fat-soluble vitamins found in foods and in dietary supplements. The human body requires vitamin K for complete synthesis of certain proteins that are needed for blood coagulation or for controlling binding of calcium in bones and other tissues.

Vitamin E

  • Vitamin E is a group of eight fat soluble compounds that include four tocopherols and four tocotrienols. Vitamin E deficiency, which is rare and usually due to an underlying problem with digesting dietary fat rather than from a diet low in vitamin E, can cause nerve problems.

Vitamin B12

  • Vitamin B₁₂, also known as cobalamin, is a water-soluble vitamin that is involved in the metabolism of every cell of the human body: it is a cofactor in DNA synthesis, and in both fatty acid and amino acid metabolism.

Folate

  • Folate, distinct forms of which are known as folic acid, folacin, and vitamin B₉, is one of the B vitamins. Folate is essential for the body to make DNA, RNA, and metabolise amino acids, which are required for cell division. As humans cannot make folate, it is required from the diet, making it an essential vitamin.

Glycineamide Ribonucleotide

  • Glycineamide ribonucleotide is an intermediate in de novo purine biosynthesis. It is formed from phosphoribosylamine by the enzyme phosphoribosylamine—glycine ligase. In the next step of purine biosynthesis, the enzyme phosphoribosylglycinamide formyltransferase acts on GAR to form phosphoribosyl-N-formylglycineamide.

Folate Recycling

  • Recycling of folate (Thymidylate synthase cycle) Folic acid, also known as Vitamin B9 is important to several biological functions. The folate derivative, 5,10-methylene-tetrahydrofolate is essential for the synthesis of dTMP from dUMP and it is therefore crucial for DNA replication and cell division.