266 PYRIDOXINE AND RELATED COMPOUNDS 



essential fatty acids, liiioleic and arachidonic acids, are closely interrelated 

 with vitamin Be in the etiology of these skin lesions. 



The kidneys and adrenal glands are also adversely affected by a vitamin 

 Be deficiency. Very early in the deficiency, the rat develops shght lesions 

 in the glomerulus, which eventually result in scarring and pitting.^^^ The 

 adrenal glands enlarge during the deficiency, especially the zona fascicu- 

 lata; this leads to an impairment of function which is generally charac- 

 terized by a decreased rate of water excretion. ^^''' ^^^ 



Although anemia is not a regular symptom of vitamin Be deficiency 

 in the rat, there are other indications that vitamin Be is involved in main- 

 taining the integrity of the blood system. The regeneration of red blood 

 cells after hemorrhage is delayed and inadequate in vitamin Be-deficient 

 rats.i^' ^^''' ^^^ Deficient rats show a microcytosis, an increase in red blood 

 cell count, reduction in mean corpuscular diameter, granulocytosis, lyra- 

 phopenia, and many normoblasts." There is a marked reduction in the 

 ability of the deficient rat to form circulating antibodies to foreign erythro- 

 cytes:""^^ this may be due to atrophy of the thymus in these deficient 

 rats.^**' 2^ Total body iron and copper are significantly increased in vita- 

 min Be deficiency, suggesting an increase in their absorption.-' 



Vitamin Be deficiency invariably leads to nervous disorders. Chick et alP 

 described the appearance of spontaneous convulsive seizures in rats main- 

 tained for long periods of time on diets deficient in vitamin Be . These 

 seizures were characterized by hyperexcitability, circular running, tonic- 

 clonic convulsions, and a comatose recovery period. These observations 

 were confirmed by Lepkovsky et al?^ Daniel et al.-^ described similar 

 seizures in young rats being nursed by mothers maintained on a vitamin 

 Be-deficient diet. Patton et al}^ observed that spontaneous convulsive 

 seizures developed in young rats being suckled by mothers on a deficiency 



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