710 XI. VITAMINS E (tocopherols) 



after subjecting the animals to a vitamin E-free diet for eighteen months. 

 In the case of the rabbit, -^''•-^^ the dog/^^ and the monkey, ^^^ testicular 

 damage comparable to that in the rat has been observed. Adamstone 

 et al^^^ reported that the germinal epithelium of young pigs is sensitive to 

 vitamin E deficiency. In the case of the hamster, ^i^ the degeneration of 

 the testicular tissue takes place much more slowly than in that of the rat, 

 and for a considerable period of time the germinal epitheHum can be re- 

 stored by vitamin E therapy. The guinea pig^^^ and the cockerel-"'222~224 

 are susceptible to \dtamin E deficiency. A most unusual finding is that of 

 Cumings,^^^'-''^ who discovered that the testis of the male guppy fish 

 (Lehistes reticulatus) also requires vitamin E. Mason^'^ noted that the 

 cotton rat (Sigmodon hispidus) has a resistance to injury from vitamin E 

 similar to that of the mouse. Marked muscular dystrophy was observed 

 to develop in this species without degeneration of the testis having occurred. 



(b) Fetal Resorption in Avitaminosis E. The histopathologic investiga- 

 tions of the difficulty in reproduction characteristic of the female rat on a 

 vitamin E-free diet, and the very rapid recovery of the sm'vivors, were first 

 described in the classical monograph of Evans and Burr^^ in 1927. A 

 later and more complete description of this condition is given by Urner,^"^ 

 who compiled the facts on reproduction in the vitamin E-deficient albino 

 rat (Rattiis norvegicus albinus) . 



When young adult females are subjected to a vitamin E-free regimen, 

 they are still able to conceive normally. All events proceed according to 

 schedule up to the time of the implantation of the ovum, which usually 

 occurs in the rat on the seventh day after insemination. Fetal develop- 

 ment begins to slow down, the hemopoietic activity of the yolk sac and of 

 the liver is decreased, and a rarefaction of the allantois and of the mesen- 



21' M. L. Chevrel and M. Cormier, Compt. rend., 226, 1854r-1855 (1948). 



"8 M. L. Chevrel-Bodin and M. Cormier, Ann. endocrinol. (Paris), 10, 19-30 (1949). 



218 K. E. Mason, Unpublished studies cited by R. S. Harris et al.. The Tocopherols, in 

 W. H. Sebrell, Jr., and R. S. Harris, The Vitamins, Academic Press, Inc., New York, 

 1954, Vol. Ill, pp. 481-573. 



"0 F. B. Adamstone, J. L. Krider, and M. F. James, Ann. New York Acad. Sci., 62, 

 260-268 (1949). 



221 A. M. Pappeuheimer and C. Schogoleff, Atn. J. Pathol., 20, 239-245 (1944). 



222 F. B. Adamstone and L. E. Card, ./. MorphoL, 56, 325-337 (1934). 



223 F. B. Adamstone, Anat. Record, 84, Abst., 499 (1942). 



22* E. H. Herrick, I. M. Eide, and M. R. Snow, Proc. Soc. Exptl. Biol. Med., 79, 441-444 

 (1952). 



225 H. W. Cumings, Jr., Dissertation, University of Illinois (1940), cited by R. S. 

 Harris et al., The Tocopherols, in W. H. Sebrell, Jr., and R. S. Harris, The Vitamins, 

 Acad. Press, New York, 1954, Vol. Ill, pp. 481-573, p. 519. 



226 H. W. Cumings, Jr., Anat. Record, 84, Abst., 499-500 (1942). 



227 J. A. Urner, Anat. Record, 50, 175-187 (1931). 



