Study for the Medical FIDSAP v2 Test. Sharpen your skills with flashcards and multiple-choice questions, complete with hints and explanations. Prepare effectively for your upcoming test!

Multiple Choice

Night blindness is most commonly seen with deficiency of which vitamin?

Night vision in low light depends on a visual pigment in the rods called rhodopsin, which requires vitamin A to be regenerated. Vitamin A is converted to retinal, the aldehyde part of rhodopsin; when light bleaches rhodopsin, the retinal must be recycled back to its active form to restore vision in the dark. If vitamin A is deficient, this regeneration is impaired, slowing dark adaptation and leading to night blindness. This is a classic early sign of vitamin A deficiency and can progress to more serious eye problems like xerophthalmia if the deficiency continues. The other vitamins listed do not play this specific role in the phototransduction process, so they are not associated with night blindness.

Night vision in low light depends on a visual pigment in the rods called rhodopsin, which requires vitamin A to be regenerated. Vitamin A is converted to retinal, the aldehyde part of rhodopsin; when light bleaches rhodopsin, the retinal must be recycled back to its active form to restore vision in the dark. If vitamin A is deficient, this regeneration is impaired, slowing dark adaptation and leading to night blindness. This is a classic early sign of vitamin A deficiency and can progress to more serious eye problems like xerophthalmia if the deficiency continues. The other vitamins listed do not play this specific role in the phototransduction process, so they are not associated with night blindness.