18 MASS. EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 374 



Since only negative results were obtained where curative tests were 

 used, it was decided to try the effect of iodine therapy in the prevention 

 of scurvy. In this experiment 5 j^oung guinea pigs were fed the vitamin 

 C-free ration plus 2 grams of Baldwin apple daily and 10 cc. of pasteurized 

 milk in addition to the kelp. The kelp comprised 10 percent of the ration 

 which was kept before the animals at all times. Five animals were used 

 in the control experiment in which no kelp was fed. Data are given in 

 Table 1. 



There is no indication that iodine supplements in the form of iodized 

 raw milk, iodized pasteurized milk, or kelp were of any value in either 

 curing or preventing scurvy in guinea pigs. The animals receiving the 

 iodine supplement lived no longer than the control animals receiving no 

 iodine and showed the same degree of scurvy. Individual growth curves 

 were made for each experimental animal. There was no evidence that 

 the animals receiving iodine lost weight more slowly than the controls. 

 Similarly, no differences were noted at autopsy, among the various experi- 

 mental animals, in the location or severity of the scurvy lesions. 



The Influence of Vitamin D on Scurvy 



Massive doses of vitamin D have been reported by Dreyer and Reed (4) 

 and Vrtiak and Lang (5) as being effective in the treatment of arthritis. 

 Following this lead, large doses of vitamin D in the form of viosterol were 

 administered both orally and by intraperitoneal injection to guinea pigs 

 on both vitamin C-free and vitamin C-deficient rations. The data are 

 summarized in Table 2. 



In this experiment, vitamin D in large amounts seemed to shorten the 

 life of guinea pigs with scurvy, but the animals which received vitamin 

 D had less swelling in the costochondral and knee joints than did the 

 control animals. It is believed that the animals which received vitamin 

 D died sooner because their metabolic rate was speeded up by this vitamin, 

 as has been demonstrated by other workers. The improved condition of 

 the joints may have been due to the fact that the vitamin D had a favor- 

 able effect in preventing calcium deposition in the bones. 



The Vitamin-B Complex and Scurvy 

 The therapeutic use of the vitamin-B complex (vitamins Bi and G) 

 has also been reported as l^eing successful in the treatment of arthritis. 

 The effect of these vitamins on scurvy was studied in feeding experiments 

 similar to tlie previous ones, with dried yeast as the source of vitamins 

 Bi and G. The data are presented in Table 2 (Groups VII and VIII). 



The animals which received the yeast grew faster at first than the con- 

 trol animals, but both groups died of scurvy in about the same length of 

 time. The gross pathology of the animals receiving vitamins Bi and G 

 was as severe as that of the control animals. Thus, even though vitamins 

 Bi and G promoted better growth in animals deprived of vitamin C, they 

 had no effect on the onset or the gross pathology of scurvy. 



Scurvy with a Superimposed Streptococcus Infection 



Rinehart and coworkers have shown that when scorbutic guinea pigs are 

 infected with streptococci, lesions are produced in the joints similar to 

 those observed in rheumatic fever. They suggested that a condition of 

 latent scurvy may provide a susceptible host, and wlien the factor of 



