Formation of Fluorescent Pigment in Vitamin E Deficiency

Abstract

The brown discoloration of the uterus which occurs in rats deprived of vitamin E was first described by Martin & Moore (1936). Later (1938) they reported that prolonged deficiency caused some degree of discoloration also in the skeletal muscles throughout the body, and particularly in the hind legs, which frequently became paralysed. The brown colour, therefore, appeared to be associated with the muscular dystrophy described by Ringsted (1935) and others, although there was some evidence that the process was not confined to muscular tissues, Thus, it was noticed that certain lymph nodes became decidedly brown. Histological examinations of the brown uterus revealed that the degenerated muscle cells were filled with small yellow granules (Barrie, * The term 'melanin' is taken to imply a black non-fluorescent pigment, such as that produced in the final stage of the action of tyrosinase on tyrosine. We have used the term 'melanoid' to include all coloured substances produced by the oxidation of proteins or amino-acids, including red intermediate substances and brown substances, but not porphyrins.