IX. EFFECTS OF DEFICIENCY 367 



fraction of the latter organism^'* was the first evidence that inositol was 

 associated with lipid material in any organism. In some yeasts and fungi 

 that require inositol as a nutrient, the toxic action of 7-hexachlorocyclo- 

 hexane is directed against inositol and can be overcome by it ; the phenome- 

 non, however, does not throw additional light on the metabolic role played 

 by inositol. The insecticide also has a pronounced toxic action that is not 

 overcome by inositol; it appears both in inositol-requiring and in inositol- 

 synthesizing microorganisms.^^ 



B. IN ANIMALS 

 T. J. CUNHA 



Woolley^^"^* showed that an inositol deficiency in the mouse resulted in 

 retarded growth and alopecia. Of considerable interest was the pattern of 

 the hair loss obtained. No hair loss occurred from the tail or head or from 

 the legs below the knees. The areas of loss of hair on most other parts of 

 the body were bilaterally symmetrical, and in most of these areas the 

 alopecia w^as nearly complete. Martin^^ observed only slight alopecia in 

 mice fed an inositol-deficient diet. Woolley^^- ^"^ also observed that only 

 about 50% of the animals showed signs of an inositol deficiency and that 

 spontaneous cures of the deficiency occurred frequently. He also found 

 that, in the absence of pantothenic acid, alopecia developed even though 

 the ration contained enough inositol. With large amounts of pantothenic 

 acid and a lack of inositol, however, some animals still developed signs of 

 inositol deficiency and died unless inositol was administered. Woolley^^ 

 also showed that inositol is synthesized under certain conditions by the 

 intestinal flora of mice. Frequently, the amount of inositol synthesized w^as 

 equivalent to the minimum dose effective in the prevention of the alopecia. 

 Thus, it appears that inositol deficiency symptoms in mice are most likely 

 affected by intestinal synthesis. 



Pavcek and Baum^^ reported that inositol cured "spectacled eye" in rats 

 fed a purified diet. Subsequently, Nielsen and Elvehjem^^ were able to 

 cure a similar spectacled eye condition in the rat with biotin. The fact 

 that both groups of investigators were able to cure the spectacled eye 

 condition with two different vitamins might well indicate that therapy 



" R. C. Fuller, R. W. Barratt, and E. L. Tatum, J. Biol. Chem. 186, 823 (1950). 



12 D. W. Woolley, Science 92, 384 (1940). 



•'3 D. W. Woolley, /. Biol. Chem. 136, 113 (1940). 



" D. W. Woolley, J. Biol. Chem. 139, 29 (1941). 



16 G. J. Martin, Science 93, 422 (1940). 



16 D. W. Woolley, Proc. Soc. Exptl. Biol. Med. 46, 565 (1941). 



1^ D. W. Woolley, J. Exptl. Med. 75, 277 (1942). 



18 P. L. Pavcek and H. M. Baum, Science 93, 502 (1941). 



19 E. Nielsen and C. A. Elvehjem, Proc. Soc. Exptl. Biol. Med. 48, 349 (1941). 



