Factors Cause the Deficiency of Vitamin C - Assignment Example

This paper is aimed at exposing some of the scientific concepts of cells, how they move from one to the other and the factors that facilitate the entire process. Some of the concepts of factors to be considered in the whole process are; signalling pathways, receptor tyrosine, cell cycle progression and DNA damage checkpoints. Actually, there are some actions of that are observed when the Ultraviolet rays hit the cultured reindeer cells. CuKe and Milk stimulate the multiplication of the reindeer cells. This is according to various scientific articles (Whitney et al, 222). Research carried out over the last five years also outline or depict that every cell has got its own mode of operation that can be easily accommodated or tolerated by the cell. This process of accommodation is known as Homeostasis. All living things respond to a stimulus that is a given force or energy form. This energy is formed though a combination of sunlight and chemical energy. The whole process involves chemical energy that in turn lead to certain reactions. This can be related or human body can be used as specimen. As man continues with his struggle of maintaining diet, vitamins have remained one of the darlings that he always seeks. The scientists have considered vitamins as having relatively equal importance, to that of carbohydrates and proteins, in maintaining the life of man. Its importance led the scientist into studying deeply what the vitamins may comprise. This leads to the categorization of the vitamins into types depending on how they contribute to the life of man. Among the categories included vitamin c also known as ascorbic acid. The characteristics of the ascorbic acid, as a compound, contribute to its uses in the life of man. Some of the known characteristics include less stable, soluble in water, only slightly stable in acids and presence potent. Human or nature contributes to the sources of the ascorbic acid in the daily life activities. Vitamin C supports the body considering many of its function like boosting energy, preventing infection and reduce the effects of stress. This article discusses on how the chemistry of ascorbic acid have contributed to its nature. The nature of vitamin C Vitamin C acts in form of enolic with the general formula of 3-oxo-L-gulofuranolactone. The following is the structure of vitamin C Ascorbic acid/isoascorbic acid exists on earth as radicals at a physiological ph. As indicated in the structure, the ascorbic acid has unpaired electrons contribute by the C atom. The differences between the two radicals occur when there is application of the electron spin technique. The compound radical forms a cyclic structure composed of hydrogen bonds between the carbon atoms and oxygen atoms, and carbon atom to HO (Kastner, 2). The hydrogen bonds surround the sodium ion in ascorbyl radical while in isoascorbyl the bonds surround the potassium ion. Both of the radicals are electroneutral especially when considering the reasoning that they comprise sodium and potassium. The presence of glutathione normally triggers the action, which alters the electronic configuration of the carbon atom back to its original value of 4 (Biophys, 207). This together with the electroneutral properties allows for the transportation through of sodium and the potassium ion through the membrane. The optimum temperature for the function of the radicals is approximately 370C while it has a neutral ph at around 7. The temperature and the ph features always occur at the physiological values. Considering the physiological conditions, there is the presence of the specific enzyme systems, which helps in maintaining the stability of balance between the two radicals (ASC and Iso-ASC) and their corresponding semi- and fully oxidized states (Biophys, 207). The balance of these two (forming the mechanism of complex redox) helps in ensuring that there are suitable physiological conditions. The unbalance between the two may form a platform for the occurrence of many diseases. Uses and application They form mobile carriers, which are useful in carrying sodium ions and potassium ion via the membrane. The glutathione in the body affects both radicals through bringing back the configuration of carbon atom to 4 without alteration in the bicyclic structure bearing the electroneutral properties. The restoration of the electronic configuration triggers the activities of the Na-ASC and K-Iso-ASC. The two radicals always have the capability of transporting ions especially Na+ and K+ to the cells which need them. They carry the ions across the walls of the cell membranes. The nature of the structure, which forms a cyclic side-chain, facilitates the carriage through the cell membrane even at room temperature. This gives the characteristics of Vitamin C in permeating the body membranes (Biophys, 207). The ascorbyl radical acts through causing lipid peroxidation, which may interfere with the structure of the membrane. This calls for the restoration of the electronic configuration, which helps in removing the effect caused by the ascorbyl radical. This case, the vitamin acts as a co-factor because it is always difficult for the potassium ions and sodium ions to pass through the membrane. The transport rate is always at its highest when temperature is around 370C. The ascorbic acid acts as one of the soluble nutrients in water. This contributes to many of its properties and its action in the body of man. Its solubility in water allows the cells of the body, in need, to absorb it easily. This arises due to the activities of water in facilitating absorption. Further, the water helps in breaking down to its constituents allowing for increased surface area for its action (DeBruyne et al, 223). The stability of the acids also contributes to its properties. It is only slightly stable in acid solution, while considered the least stable among all the vitamins. This enhances the ability of the body to break it allowing for easier digestion and absorption. When exposed to light or heat, the ascorbic acid can easily lose its potency thereby triggering the oxidative enzyme activities. This makes vitamin C to be incompatible with most of the body process (Whitney et al, 222). There are factors, which affect the functioning of vitamin C especially inside the body. These factors include overcooking, poor storage and processing. The vitamin C can only work within the temperatures around 370. Higher temperature that will exceed the optimum will result to the deactivation of the vitamin because of the interference with the spin concentration. The higher temperatures normally results to a decrease in the rate of spin concentration because of the effect in dissociating the hydrogen bond. The breaking of the hydrogen leads to the formation of the furanoid ring, which always affect the mechanism associated to vitamin C. Cooking leads to the loss of much of vitamin c. this occurs because of the instability characteristics of the acid. Consequently, around 25% of vitamin C is lost in these processes. Freeezing and thawing also have the same effect on the amount vitamin C present in a certain food. The vitamin C is also much sensitive to presence of air because the easy oxidation it posses. Further cooking of the foods containing vitamin C for long periods may result to loss of almost all the vitamin C present. The only solution to these is to consume the foods containing the vitamin C in their raw form. This ensures that an individual obtain the maximum possible amount of vitamin C from the intake. Other factor, which may cause the deficiency of vitamin C, includes poor intake, body’s immune and detoxification systems. The deficiency arises from the less intake of vitamin C from the source food, as have been noted among the malnutritioned individuals. Further, poor intake also arises when an individual have much exposure to smoking which the nutritionists have always associated to causing deficiency in people. The overload caused by the body’s immune (which frequently uses vitamin C) always increases the deficiency of vitamin C. the immune system has a variety of mechanism, from the white blood cells and complement proteins functioning to preventing infection. This may overload vitamin C leading to deficiency risk. Work cited Biophys, Struct. Structure of Ascorbic Acid and Its Biological Function. 2004. Retrieved from: http://download.springer.com/static/pdf/507/art%253A10.1007%252FBF00535549.pdf?a uth66=1353388700_285218e8df75f8071f4468ce3f6e7fb7&ext=.pdfon Whitney, Eleanor N, Linda K. DeBruyne, Kathryn Pinna, and Sharon R. Rolfes. Nutrition for Health and Health Care. Australia: Wadsworth, 2011. Print. DeBruyne, Linda K, Kathryn Pinna, Eleanor N. Whitney, and Corinne B. Cataldo. Nutrition and Diet Therapy: Principles and Practice. Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth, 2008. Print. Varma, Saaket. Human Sodium Dependent Vitamin C Transporters, HSVCT1 and HSVCT2: Role of TM1 in Their Activity and the Identification of Trafficking Motifs Chernoff, Ronni. Geriatric Nutrition: The Health Professional's Handbook. Sudbury: Mass, 2006. Print. 45 Hickey, Steve. Vitamin C: the Real Story: The Remarkable and Controversial Healing Factor: Easyread Super Large 24pt Edition. ReadHowYouWant.com. Hussain Kargar, et al. "Protective Effect Of Vitamins E And C On Endosulfan-Induced Reproductive Toxicity In Male Rats." Iranian Journal Of Medical Sciences 37.3 (2012): 173-180. Academic Search Complete. Web. 20 Nov. 2012. Seyed Hamid Hashemi, et al. "Effect Of Vitamin C Administration On Leukocyte Vitamin C Level And Severity Of Bronchial Asthma." Acta Medica Iranica 50.4 (2012): 233-238. 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