272 pyridoxine and related compounds 



4. Dogs 



Fonts el alP first observed a nutritional microcytic hypochromic anemia 

 in young dogs receiving a diet that was low in vitamin Be . Adult dogs also 

 developed this condition when placed on a similar dietJ* The blood plasma 

 iron concentration progressively increased as the anemia became more 

 severe^^ It dropped to a low-normal value with pyridoxine therapy. Total 

 blood copper values were at a low-normal level during the anemia and 

 increased to normal during pyridoxine administration. The pyridoxine- 

 deficient dog also exhibited an increased urinary output of urea, ammonia, 

 uric acid, and creatinine;''^ xanthurenic acid was excreted in the urine of 

 these deficient dogs.^^ When desoxypyridoxine was fed to dogs, they ex- 

 hibited atrophy of spleen, thymus, and lymph nodes; the ratio of spleen to 

 body weight decreased." They developed epileptiform convulsions. The 

 lipoid content of the zona fasciculata and zona reticularis of the adrenal 

 glands decreased, and the glands became larger than normal. The "rat 

 acrodynia" symptoms did not appear in the adult dog. McKibbin et alP 

 have shown that young puppies developed a different deficiency picture. 

 No deficiency symptoms other than anemia, loss of weight, anorexia, and 

 death were observed in puppies. Adult dogs kept for 300 days or more on 

 a diet free of vitamin Be developed symptoms of cardiac failure including 

 dyspnea, tachycardia, dilatation and hypertrophy of the I'ight ventricle 

 and the right auricle, accumulation of serous fluid in the thorax and chronic 

 passive congestion of the liver; degenerative changes were found in the 

 myelin sheaths of the peripheral nerves and of the spinal cord.''^ 



Vitamin Be-deficient dogs show a decreased ability to convert protein 

 into carbohydrate, as indicated by the decrease in the urinary dextrose: ni- 

 trogen ratio in phlorizinized animals on a high protein diet; no such im- 

 pairment occurs in thiamine and riboflavin deficiencies.^" Dogs receiving a 

 vitamin Be-deficient diet and desoxypyridoxine show a sharp fall in the 

 volume of gastric juice."^ 



" P. J. Fouts, O. M. Helmer, S. Lepkovskv, and T. H. Jukes, J. Nutrition 16, l')7 



(1938). 

 '" P. J. Fouts, O. M. Helmer, and S. Lepkovskv, ./. Am. Med. Assoc. 199. 163 (1940). 

 ^* J. M. McKibbin, A. E. Schaefer, D. V. Frost, and C. .\. I']lvohjeni, /. Biol. Chcm. 



142, 77 (1942). 

 ^« H. E. Axelrod, A. F. Morgan, and S. Lepkovsky, ./. Biol. Chcm. 160, 155 (1945). 

 " C. W. Mushett, R. B. Stel)bins, and M. N. Barton, Trans. A' . F. Acad. Sci. 9, 291 



(1947). 

 "8.1. IM. MoKil)bin, R. J. Madden, S. Black, and C. A. Elvehjem, Am. J. Pln/siol. 



128, 102 (1939). 

 "9 H. R. Street, G. R. CowKill, and II. M. Zimmerman, ./. Nutrition 21, 275 (1941). 

 >*» P. 1). Bartlett and O. II. Ciaebler, ./. .Nutrition 37, 93 (1949). 

 ^' R. A. Forseand D. U. Webster, Surg. Forum, I'roc. :3(ith Vonqr. Am. Coll. Surgeons, 



p. 95, (1950). 



