viii. effects of deficiency in animals 295 



5. Other Organs 



a. Liver 



The most notable gross symptoms of ascorbic acid deficiency in the liver 

 are palenej^s and a tendency to fatty infiltration. Congestion is common, 

 and sometimes hemorrhages occur although there is no correlation between 

 the degree of hepatic change and the severity and frequency of subcutaneous 

 hemorrhages. In addition to the fatty infiltration there may be degenera- 

 tive lytic changes and necroses which often show calcifications.^- ^^' Hojer^ 

 obser\'ed that the cells became reduced in volume, the cytoplasm was 

 stained only faintly and appeared to be homogenized, and the cell bound- 

 aries were indistinct, with a tendency for diminution of parenchyma cells 

 and an increase of stroma cells. jMeyer^^ observed that disintegration of 

 the hepatic parenchyma occurs and "as the cell walls disappear, a num- 

 ber of cells may coalesce, forming a single large clear area which may be 

 surrounded by parenchyma cells of about normal size." 



Murakami'^' obtained experimental evidence that lack of the vitamin 

 causes a decrease in the amount of the bile and in the pigment-secreting 

 function of the liver. Injection of the vitamin resulted in a restoration of 

 these functions. 



Russell and Callaway^ ^' found that trypan blue injected subcutaneously 

 is more heavily deposited in the liver parenchyma cells of scorbutic than 

 of normal guinea pigs. A fatty metamorphosis of the liver cells was also 

 observed. This alteration together with the pathological deposition of the 

 dye was considered as evidence of hepatic damage and as affording an ex- 

 planation of the altered amino acid metabolism characteristic of ascorbic 

 acid deficiency.--- ^° 



b. Pancreas 



Hess®^ reported that the pancreas is normal in scurvy, and, since Hojer^ 

 did not mention the pancreas in the report of his studies on scurvy, he ap- 

 parently found no definite abnormalities. The most noticeable changes 

 which Meyer"^*^ found in some of the glands were the presence of vacuola- 

 tion in the parenchyma cells, the occurrence of fatty infiltration throughout 

 the organ, and desquamation of the epithelium of the ducts. Lowy'^^ stated 

 that the pancreatic islands are larger than normal and are hypoplastic. 



'61 O. A. Bessey, M. L. Menten, and C. G. King, Proc. Soc. Exptl. Biol. Med. 31, 455 



(19.34). 

 '62 O. Murakami, Jap. J. Gastroenterol. 11, 1 (1939). 

 '" W. O. Russell and C. P. Callaway, Arch. Pathol. 35, 546 (1943). 

 '" E. Lowy, Z. ges. cxptl. Med. 38, 407 (1923). 



