Washington, Oct 9 (Inditop.com) Excessive intake of Vitamin A can have a negative effect on the human body, a new study says.
The research shows that Vitamin A plays a crucial role in energy production within cells but too much or too little of it can harm the system.
This is particularly important as combinations of foods, drinks, creams, and nutritional supplements containing added Vitamin A make an overdose more possible than ever before.
“Our work illuminates the value and potential harm of Vitamin A use in cosmetic creams and nutritional supplements,” said study co-author Ulrich Hammerling of Sloan-Kettering Institute for Cancer Research, New York.
“Although Vitamin A deficiency is not very common in our society, over-use of this vitamin could cause significant disregulation of energy production impacting cell growth and cell death.”
Though Vitamin A for nutrition and foetal development is well-known, it has been unclear why Vitamin A deficiencies and overdoses cause such widespread and profound harm to our organs, until now.
The discovery by Hammerling and colleagues explains why these effects occur, while also providing insight into Vitamin A’s anti-cancer effects, says a Sloan-Kettering release.
The scientists used cultures from both human and mice cells containing specific genetic modifications of the chemical pathways involved in mitochondrial (which powers the cell) energy production.
These findings were published in the FASEB Journal.
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