ROLE OF "AGENIZED" FLOUR IN THE PRODUCTION OF RUNNING FITS

Abstract

Recently, Mellanby (1946)¹ has shown that when white flour is bleached with nitrogen trichloride, known as the "agene" process, a toxic product is produced which will induce running fits when the flour is included in rations fed to dogs. Earlier, Arnold and Elvehjem (1939)² prepared a heat-processed dog food of wheat flour and meat scraps which consistently caused running fits when fed to dogs. Wagner and Elvehjem (1944)³ were able to produce running fits in dogs when commercial wheat gluten was included in the ration. By increasing the amount of gluten fits could be induced in proportionally shorter lengths of time. This work confirmed an observation made by Parry,⁴ while working here, that this canine disease was caused by some toxic product in the wheat protein. The condition called running fits, or "canine hysteria" as used by the English workers, causes dogs to become hypersensitive to