Some Effects of Prolonged Vitamin E Deficiency in The Rat

Abstract

INan early preliminary communication we (Martin & Moore, 1936) reported that in rats maintained for prolonged periods on diets deficient in vitamin E a brown discoloration of the uterus occurred. Degeneration of the convoluted tubules of the kidneys was also found. In a more recent paper we (Martin & Moore, 1938) described a less intense discoloration in the skeletal muscles, which was localized in distribution. The muscles of the hindlegs, which displayed the paresis described by Ringsted (1935), were always noticeably discoloured. In both the uterine and leg muscles discoloration was found to be associated with muscular degeneration. The similarity of the condition in the leg muscles to the nutritional muscular dystrophy first reported by Goettsch & Pappenheimer (1931) in guinea-pigs was noted. The purpose of this communication is to give a detailed account of this work, including its most recent developments (Moore, 1939).