The Effect of Vitamin A Deficiency on the Concentration of the Blood Lipids of Albino Rats

Abstract

A diet deficient in vitamin A produced a continuous occurrence of cornified cells in the vaginal smears of the female albino rats, from 7 to 15 days before the appearance of ophthalmia. After the administration of cod liver oil to calorie and positive controls the fatty acid and cholesterol content of the blood of the vitamin A deficient animals exceeded that of the two controls. At the bleeding before the last, the fatty acids and cholesterol of the vitamin A deficient animals significantly exceeded the calorie and positive controls. An inversion was evident at the last bleeding. The calorie controls then showed a significant excess of fatty acids and cholesterol over the vitamin A deficient animals. From the third to the last bleedings, inclusive, the lecithin content of the blood of the vitamin A deficient animals was significantly higher than that of either of the controls, with the exception of the fourth bleeding, when the difference between vitamin A deficient animals and calorie controls was only slightly significant. In the comparison between groups at each bleeding after the administration of cod liver oil, analysis of variance was applied to test for significant differences between groups, triads and individual bleedings. This analysis proved a highly significant difference between groups for fatty acids, cholesterol and lecithin. The differences between the individual bleedings were found to be significant only for the fatty acids. The differences between the triads were significant for lecithin and cholesterol. The reason for these variations was traced back to the nutritional background of the animal.