Vitamin E Needed for Proper Nervous System Development

Date: 22 September 2020 - 21:25

News ID: ۸۳۱۰۵

NEW YORK (Dispatches) -- In research with key ramifications for women of childbearing age, findings by Oregon State University scientists show that embryos produced by vitamin E-deficient zebrafish have malformed brains and nervous systems.
Zebrafish are a small freshwater species that go from a fertilized egg to a swimming fish in about five days. They are highly prized for studying the development and genetics of vertebrates.
Zebrafish share a remarkable similarity to humans at the molecular, genetic and cellular levels, meaning many findings are immediately relevant to humans. Embryonic zebrafish are of special interest because they develop quickly, are transparent and are easy to care for.
Vitamin E was discovered in 1922, identified because it was essential for fertilized rat eggs to culminate in live births.
"This is totally amazing -- the brain is absolutely physically distorted by not having enough vitamin E,” said Maret Traber, a professor in the OSU College of Public Health and Human Sciences.
In an embryo, a brain primordium and the neural tube appear early and will form the nervous system and "innervate” -- supply with nerves -- all organs and body structures. Without vitamin E, the zebrafish embryos showed neural tube defects and brain defects.
In healthy organisms, neural crest cells drive the creation of facial bones and cartilage and innervate the body, building the peripheral nervous system.