BETASELEN

Ascorbic acid, coupled with dehydroascorbic acid to which it is reversibly oxidised, has a variety of functions in cellular oxidation processes. Ascorbic acid is required in several important hydroxylations, including the conversion of proline to hydroxyproline and appears to have an important role in metal ion metabolism, including the gastrointestinal absorption of iron and its transport between plasma and storage organs.

Vitamin E is known to exert an important physiological function as an antioxidant for fats, with a sparing action on vitamin A, carotenoids and on unsaturated fatty acids. Other work has demonstrated that vitamin E is connected with the maintenance of certain factors essential for the normal metabolic cycle.

Zinc blocks the intestinal absorption of copper from the diet and the reabsorption of endogenously secreted copper. Zinc induces the production of metallothionein in the enterocyte, a protein that binds copper thereby preventing its transfer into the blood. The bound copper is then eliminated in the stool following desquamation of the intestinal cells.

Selenium is an essential trace element. In human, selenium compounds are glutathione peroxidase and a selenium protein P found in the plasma. Deficiency of selenium has been associated with an endemic form of cardiomyopathy, Keshan disease and with Kaschin-Beck disease, an endemic osteoarthropathy which causes a severe deformity of the joints.