EFFECT OF DEFICIENCY IN ANIMALS 



deficiency, the blood urea and non-protein nitrogen increase consider- 

 ably. Only mild creatinuria was observed in animals deficient in 

 riboflavine, pyridoxine or pantothenic acid. 



Aneurine and Riboflavine 



A connection between aneurine deficiency and riboflavine has been 

 remarked upon by several workers. Although no change in the ex- 

 cretion of riboflavine occurs in the early stages of aneurine deficiency, 

 in the later stages rapid excretion occurs ; ^^ this is believed to be due 

 to the rapid metabolism of tissue, e.g. shrinkage of the liver. It has 

 also been shown that the concentration of riboflavine in the liver is 

 increased in aneurine deficiency and vice versa. '^^ A deficiency of 

 pyridoxine, pantothenic acid, biotin or vitamin A had no eftect on 

 the concentration of aneurine or riboflavine in the liver. Chronic 

 aneurine deficiency does not affect the riboflavine content of the body 

 tissues,^* but riboflavine is not utilised so well in this condition as in 

 normal rats on an isocaloric diet. 



Aneurine and Fat Metabolism 



Some workers appear to have established a connection between 

 aneurine and fat metabolism. This was first suggested by H. G. K. 

 Westenbrink,^^ who found that fat in the diet conserved the vitamin 

 Bi present in the tissues. This sparing action of fat was confirmed 

 by H. M. Evans et al.,^^ who showed furthermore that fats differed, 

 in their ability to inhibit the onset of deficiency symptoms, the optimal 

 effect being obtained with fats containing Cg-fatty acids. The nutri- 

 tive value of fats was different for vitamin Bi-deficient and normal 

 rats. A. R. Kemmerer and H. Steinbock,^' on the other hand, could 

 find no support for this hypothesis, the vitamin Bj contents of the 

 tissues being the same whether the animals were fed a high carbo- 

 hydrate diet or a high fat diet. Nor was any evidence in favour of 

 the vitamin sparing action of fat obtained by Reinhold et al.^^ from 

 experiments on humans. The subjects were maintained from ten to 

 fifteen days on a basal diet, then for the same period on a diet high in 

 fat and then on one high in carbohydrate ; aneurine was estimated in 

 the urine, faeces and food. Urinary excretion of aneurine decreased 

 in five out of the six women when the carbohydrate to fat ratio was 

 increased. The high fat diet had the same effect on urinary aneurine 

 as had the basal diet. Faecal excretion of aneurine was not affected 

 by the change in diet. 



Another and somewhat different connection between vitamin B^ 

 and fats was reported by Longenecker et al.,^^ who found that loss of 



4 49 



