TOCOPHEROLS IN VARIOUS METABOLIC PROCESSES 719 



weakness, and dragging of tlie extremities; the animals are unable to re- 

 gain their posture when placed on their backs. Death follows a diminution 

 of body temperature and of respiration. ^^^ In some cases the animals 

 recover when the deficiency symptoms are mild. When vitamin E is given 

 as late as the fifteenth day of the lactation period, the occurrence of the 

 deficiency symptoms can be prevented. However, vitamin E therapy is 

 ineffective once the symptoms have appeared. According to Evans, '^'^^^ 

 spontaneous recovery sometimes occurs, with a retention of the paralysis. 

 Lipshutz-''"' and Guti^rrez-Mahoney^*^ are of the opinion that lesions of 

 the brain and spinal cord develop preceding the muscle abnormality. It 

 is belie^Td that the dystrophic process is purely of myogenic origin; thus, 

 when the ner^'e supplying the muscle is resected prior to the seventeenth 

 day, the incidence of dystrophy is greatly reduced. -^'^--^^ When death 

 occurs, it is usually attril)utal)le to paralysis of the respiratory muscles, 

 but Harris et al.^^ are of the opinion that other metabolic dysfunctions may 

 be involved. There are a number of excellent treatises on the muscular 

 symptoms in this condition, including the article by Olcott,^^* by Telford 

 and co-workers,-'** by Pappenheimer,-^"^--'*^'"^®'-'*^ by Harris et al.,'°^ and that 

 by Mason et al.,-*^ to which the reader is referred for more detailed data. 



Similar muscle changes, together with the external symptoms, have 

 been observed in a number of species, including newborn rabbits, ^^^ pre- 

 pubertal mice, 2^^ young pigs,--** young lambs with "stiff-lamb" disease,-'*^"-*- 

 young calves with "white muscle disease";^*'' a comparable condition has 



"9 H. M. Evans, /. ML Sinai Hasp. {New York), 6, 233-244 (1940). 



2« M. D. Lipshutz, Rev. Neurol, 65, 221-233 (1936). 



2" W. de Gutierrez-Mahoney, Southern Med. J., 34, 389-394 (1941). 



2« A. M. Pappenheimer, /. ML Sinai Hosp. (New York), 7, 65-76 (1940). 



2« A. M. Pappenheimer, Physiol Revs., 23, 37-50 (1943). 



2^^ H. S. Olcott, /. Nutrition, 15, 221-227 (1938). 



"6 I. R. Telford, G. A. Emerson, and H. M. Evans, Proc. Soc. Exptl Biol Med., 41, 

 291-295 (1939); 45, 135-136 (1940). 



"« A. M. Pappenheimer, Am. J. Pathol, 15, 179-184 (1939). 



^^^ A. M. Pappenheimer, On Certain Aspects of Vitamin E Deficienci/, American Lecture 

 Series No. 17, Charles C Thomas, Springfield, 111., 1948, pp. 3-33, p. 22. 



"8 K. E. Mason, M. Y. Djii, and S. J. Chapin, Proc. IsL and 2nd Med. Conf. (1951- 

 1952), Miiscidar Dystrophy Assocs. Amer., New York, pp. 94-100. 



2« J. P. Willman, S. A. Asdell, and P. Olafson, Cornell Univ. Agr. ExpL Sta. Bull, 603, 

 3-20 (1934). 



250 J. P. Willman, J. K. Loosli, S. A. Asdell, F. B. Morrison, and P. Olafson, /. Animal 

 Sci.,4, 128-132(1945). 



251 J. P. Willman, J. K. Loosli, S. A. Asdell, F. B. Morrison, and J. P. Olafson, Cornell 

 VeL, 36, 200-204 (1946). 



252 H. H. Draper, M. F. James, and B. C. Johnson, /. Nutrition, 47, 583-597 (1952). 

 2" L. R. Vawtcr and E. Records, /. Ain. VeL Med. Assoc., 110, 152-157 (1947). 



