Vitamin A Deficiency and Reproduction in Rhesus Monkeys

Abstract

Maternal vitamin A deficiency results in a variety of congenital malformations in several mammalian species, but there are only a few reports of malformations in children attributable to this deficiency. It seemed of interest to test experimentally the teratogenicity of this deficiency in a subhuman primate. Ten mature female and one male Macaca mulatta were fed a vitamin A-free diet for a period of 24–36 months. Plasma vitamin A levels were followed; when levels dropped to 10 µg/100 ml or lower, supplements of 400 IU of vitamin A were given twice weekly. Assays were also performed on liver biopsy tissue to confirm the state of vitamin A depletion. Eight pregnancies occurred in females fed deficient diets; four of these were not in a state of vitamin A depletion at conception. Three pregnancies resulted in abortion, four in viable offspring, and one was interrupted at day 72 by hysterotomy. No congenital malformations were observed, but two young were born with xerophthalmia, and one developed the condition after a 2-year period of vitamin A deficiency. Thus, Macaca mulatta may be maintained for 2–3 years on a vitamin A-free diet and may reproduce if the diet is supplemented with very low doses of vitamin A.