Maternal Vitamin B12 Deficiency and Nucleic Acid Content of Tissues from Infant Rats.

Abstract

A vitamin B12 deficiency was induced in female rats by feeding" a soybean oil meal diet. The newborn offspring were severely depleted of the vitamin, as evidenced by high blood urea, low liver glycogen, high incidence of congenital abnormalities and a high rate of mortality. Liver and brain tissue from the newborn rats were analyzed for nucleic acid and the number of nuclei per g of tissue was determined. The vitamin B12 deficiency had no significant effect on the nucleic acid content of the liver but the amount of desoxyribose nucleic acid (DNA) and the number of nuclei per g of brain tissue was increased about 15% in the depleted animals. The pentose nucleic acid (PNA) per cell was decreased about 20%. The possible relationship of the increased number of cells to the cause of the hydrocephalus which occurs among vitamin B12 deficient rats was discussed.