Abstract
THE separation of vitamin B into two factors, antineuritic and antipellagrous, a few years ago, led to considerable attention being devoted to the properties of this vitamin, with the result that it is now possible to distinguish at least four B factors, quite apart from any grouped under the name ‘Bios’, which may be necessary for the growth of lower organisms. The factors are distinguished by differences in their chemical properties and physiological effects: their differentiation has necessitated a revision of the methods of assay, since it is possible that a failure to respond to an addition to the diet is an indication of the absence of a factor other than that for which the test was designed. In this type of research a preventive test is less delicate than a curative, whilst the growth test may be considered still cruder: a single factor should cure the specific symptoms due to its absence, preventive tests may test for more than one, whilst it is clear that a positive growth response can only be obtained when every factor is adequately supplied; and our knowledge of all the factors required for growth is still incomplete, as the recent work on vitamin B has shown.
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Vitamin B.; Assay and Vitamin B1. Nature 127, 95–96 (1931). https://doi.org/10.1038/127095a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/127095a0