Differences in the Behavior of Rats and Mice Towards Deficiencies of Certain Members of the Vitamin B Complex

Abstract

On vitamin B complex-free diets supplemented with thiamine and riboflavin, mice, unlike rats, do not develop a specific dermatitis nor do they exhibit any growth response to the addition of pyridoxine to their daily ration. Mice fed a vitamin B complex-free diet develop a nonspecific dermatitis in the presence of any or all of the known factors of the vitamin B complex (thiamine, riboflavin, pyridoxine, and nicotinic acid) with the exception of pantothenic acid. On a vitamin B complex-free diet supplemented with thiamine, riboflavin, pyridoxine, and the filtrate factor, mice grow at a rate that is about 85% of normal and show no gross lesions of a deficiency of any kind over a period of 100 days.