VITAMIN E DEFICIENCY IN THE MOUSE

Abstract

[female] mice reared on a purified vit. E-deficient diet exhibited resorptions indistinguishable from those observed in the vit. E-deficient rat. Sterility was prevented by feeding natural sources of vit. E or synthetic a-tocopherol. The same dietary procedure, which also induces sterility in rats of both sexes at the onset of sexual maturity, failed to produce testicular injury in c[male] mice after 400 days. The good reproduction observed in [female] mice, when 5% of the lard in the deficient diet was replaced by an equivalent amt. of hydrogenated cottonseed oil, suggests that the previously reported observations concerning sterility in mice due to inadequate vit. E (Beard, 1926) are subject to some other interpretation.