Mason K E
Fed Proc. 1977 May;36(6):1906-10.
This presentation reviews highlights of the first 20 years (1922-1942) of vitamin E. It begins with background information leading to identification of an antisterility factor for rats of both sexes and its acceptance into the vitamin family as vitamin E (1925). Research of the next 12 years revealed a multiplicity of deficiency manifestations: embryonic mortality, testis degeneration, encephalomalacia and exudative diathesis in the chick, and nutritional muscular dystrophy in avian and mammalian species. Toward the close of this period came the isolation of vitamin E from natural sources, determination of its empirical formula, and introduction of the designation alpha-tocopherol for vitamin E (1936). Within the next two years the structural formula of alpha-tocopherol was elucidated, its chemical synthesis accomplished, and its production from natural plant oils by molecular distillation was well established. The existence of other tocopherols with lesser degrees of biological activity became recognized. Also, the concurrent development of a chemical method for determining the vitamin E content of alpha-tocopherol in foods, body tissues and body fluids, which replaced the very laborious bioassay procedure, greatly facilitated later advances in knowledge of the distribution and nature of vitamin E.
本报告回顾了维生素E最初20年（1922年至1942年）的重要进展。报告开篇介绍了背景信息，这些信息促使人们发现了一种对雌雄大鼠均具有抗不育作用的因子，并将其作为维生素E纳入维生素家族（1925年）。接下来12年的研究揭示了多种缺乏症表现：雏鸡的胚胎死亡、睾丸退化、脑软化和渗出性素质，以及鸟类和哺乳动物的营养性肌肉萎缩。在这一时期接近尾声时，人们从天然来源中分离出了维生素E，确定了其经验式，并引入了α-生育酚这一维生素E的名称（1936年）。在接下来的两年内，α-生育酚的结构式得以阐明，其化学合成得以完成，并且通过分子蒸馏从天然植物油中生产α-生育酚的方法也已确立。人们认识到还存在其他生物活性较低的生育酚。此外，一种用于测定食品、身体组织和体液中α-生育酚维生素E含量的化学方法的同时发展，取代了非常繁琐的生物测定程序，极大地促进了后来关于维生素E分布和性质知识的进展。
