Anti-Encephalomalacia Activity of dl-α-Tocopherol

Abstract

RECENT work on K-avitaminosis in chicks offered an opportunity of studying the nutritional encephalomalacia of growing chicks receiving certain supplements to their basal diet. Some groups of chicks were kept on diet 108 of Pappenheimer and Goettsch¹. On this diet the animals developed the symptoms as described by these authors. We have now studied the effect of the addition of certain vegetable products, as it was our intention to carry out an elaborate fractionation of these materials along with the search for vitamin K. In the meantime, synthetic dl-α-tocopherol prepared after the method of Karrer et al.² was made available*, and we therefore tested the effectiveness of this substance directly against the disease. Daily doses of the substance increasing proportionally to the weight of the animals in quantities of 0.0075 mgm. per gm. body weight per day completely protected the chicks against encephalomalacia.