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The nutritional value of chlorophyll as related to hemoglobin formation.

1926; SAGE Publishing; Volume: 23; Issue: 8 Linguagem: Inglês

10.3181/00379727-23-3172

1535-3702

Carol Saunders,

Iron Metabolism and Disorders

A study of the problem of organic precursors of the hematin part of hemoglobin shows that no attention has been directed toward the possible relation of vitamines therein, whether this be as a direct precursor, or as involved in the use of such possible precursors as chlorophyll. The problem was to determine whether rats could be rendered anemic by the absence of one or more vitamines in a synthetic diet and whether phaophytin, obtained from chlorophyll, functions as a hemoglobin precursor in anemic rats, however this anemia may have been brought about. Rats kept upon such diets were systematically followed as to weight, blood hemoglobin and red blood cell count. The tentative conclusions arrived at as applied to rats are the following: 1. Synthetic rations containing 18 per cent casein and deficient in Vitamines A, B and E do not produce anemia but do produce an unusually high hemoglobin content. 3. Casein at a 10 per cent level produces a lower hemoglobin content than does casein at an 18 per cent level. 4. Casein extracted with acetic acid and aerated is less efficient in maintaining hemoglobin than is casein extracted with lukewarm alcohol. 6. Experimental anemia may be produced on synthetic rations using wheat gluten as the protein and this anemia may be at least partially and temporarily alleviated by the aadition of 0.2 to 1 per cent phaophytin to the ration. 7. It appears that proteins contain an important precursor of hematin and that since casein contains this in greater quantity than wheat gluten, the indications are that possibly tryptophane is involved.