VII. EFFECTS ()F DEFICIEXCY oSS 



pioloniicd \ilaniiii 1] (Icticit'iicy, as iirst rcpoi'tcd hy Miiiarson and Uiii^sted"' 

 and Monnier' and considered related to tal)es-like symptomts in such ani- 

 mals, althou<i;h (luestioned by some investigators," ha\'e Ikhmi well sultstan- 

 tiated l)y others.'^' '•' 



Einarson and Ringsted'^ also described extensive degeneration of ventral 

 horn cells and, in a few cases, demyelinization of the pyramidal tracts, 

 leading to a picture suggestive of a combination of tabes dorsalis coml)ined 

 with spinal muscular atrophy or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Einarson^" 

 now considers the pyramidal tract lesions a misinterpretation, due to faulty 

 comparison with control material. The ventral horn changes described also 

 by Monnier"' l)ut not observed by other investigators"'"'* \\ ho ha\'e searched 

 for them, are characterized by alterations in Xissl substance leading to 

 lipodystrophy and irreparable atrophy of motor horn cells, those located 

 more centrally and at the venous end of the capillary bed where hypoxia 

 is greatest being more affected than the more peripheral cells. Similar changes 

 in dystrophic guinea pigs have been reported.^"""' Einarson-^'' '*""' thinks that 

 when N'itamin E is inadequate adenylic acid, necessary for formation of 

 high-enei-gy phosphate bonds, is not properly liberated from cytoplasmic 

 nucleotides and that accumulation and decomposition of the latter lead to 

 the degenerative cell changes observed. Failure to use, or to properly apply, 

 the gallocyanin-chromalum stain, having a selective affinity for inicleic 

 acids, may explain the failures of others to confirm these findings.**^ Pos- 

 sibly the widespread cellular hyperchromasia described by de Gutierrez- 

 Mahoney^'-" in ventral horn cells and elsewhere in the nervous system, and 

 the accumulation of acid-fast pigment ol)served by Pappenheimer and 

 Victor"" and Einarsoni*"=^ in motor cells of the cord and medulla of old 

 vitamin E-deficient rats, represent changes of a similar type l)ut revealed 

 by other staining methods. 



Mackenzie et alJ^'' report marked tremors in adult paralyzed rats and, 

 following a shrill note, an outburst of activity terminating in collapse with- 

 out convulsions or loss of consciousness. Hamsters on low-E diets have been 

 reported'"''' to show a sudden onset of incoordination, hyperexcitability, and 

 violent reactions to external stimuli such as touch or noise, culminating in 

 collapse, unconsciousness, stupor, and death; tocopherol orally effected 

 spectacular recovery in some instances. Jn the writer's experience, and that 

 of others who have studied E-deficiency in th(^ hamster, this phenomenon 

 has never been observed. 



"«'» M. Ekblad and G. Wohlfart, Z. ges. Xei<rol. Fs!/chi<il. 168, 144 (1940J. 



I'ob L. Einarson, Acta. Orthopaed. Scand. 19, 55 (1949). 



loi A. M. Pappenheimer and J. Victor, Am. J. Pathol. 22, :}95 (1946). 



""" L. Kiiiarson. ./. Xeiirol. Xeurosurg. Pauchint. 16, 9S (19.5;?). 



lO't-J. \V. Il.iiniltoii ;iiiil A. G. Hogan, ./. Xntritiun 27. 213 (1944). 



