NERVE REGENERATION IN CATS ON VITAMIN B1 DEFICIENT DIETS

Abstract

The tibial, peroneal and saphenous nerves of cats regenerated "normally" in the presence of severe thia-mine deficiency. Observations of functional return, measurements of sweating from the foot pads, recordings of the action potentials from the excised regenerating nerves, and microscopic measurements of the diameter growth of the fibers were made. The regenerating nerves were crushed only after the cats showed signs of deficiency on either a carp or tube-fed diet. By injecting thiamine chloride (20 to 50 [gamma] daily) the animals were kept in a severely deficient state for periods up to 116 days. Cats on a thiamine deficient carp diet showed anorexia, ataxia and postural disturbances which were apparently due to central nervous system damage. With a better controlled, tube-fed diet, the ataxia was extremely mild even in cats which died after 116 days. The peripheral nerves were excised immediately after the cats died of thiamine deficiency, and the unoperated nerves showed typical action potentials and microscopic examination showed no peripheral nerve damage.