Effect of Vitamin A Deficiency on the Cerebro-spinal Fluid Pressure of the Chick

Abstract

ANIMALS reared on a diet deficient in vitamin A suffer from a syndrome characterized by the appearance of muscular inco-ordination and weakness, followed by paresis, fits and finally death¹. This condition occurs in poultry, and has been regarded either as a primary disorder of the central nervous system², or alternatively as produced by the compression of a normally growing nervous system by an abnormally growing skeleton³. In a preliminary series of experiments, we repeated the work of Wolbach and Hegsted³, using a diet containing no detectable pro-vitamin A. During the course of these experiments, we found that the cerebro-spinal fluid pressure in the experimental chicks was considerably raised (180–200 mm. of water) as compared with that of a group of control chicks on the same diet with the addition of an adequate supply of vitamin A (90–105 mm. of water).