Muscular Dystrophy of Beef Cattle and Unsaturated Fats

Abstract

THE enzootic muscular dystrophy of suckling beef cattle in the north of Scotland¹ can be prevented by administration of α-tocopherol². Analyses of rations which consist mainly of turnips and straw show them to be deficient in tocopherol, and this dietary lack is reflected in extremely low concentrations of tocopherol in the blood serum, colostrum and milk of the cow, and in the blood serum and the tissues of her calf³. The quantity of tocopherol necessary for the prevention of the disease in the suckling calf is, however, much higher (twice) than that required by experimental calves given artificial rations simulating milk. Since unsaturated dietary fats such as lard⁴ and especially cod-liver oil⁵ (a particularly rich source of polyethenoid fatty acids) lead to a gross exacerbation in the incidence and severity of muscular dystrophy and to considerable increases in tocopherol requirement, it was thought that the nature of the dietary fat ingested by the calves in the north of Scotland might be a further factor, in addition to a low tocopherol intake, accounting for the incidence of the disease. This hypothesis was supported by the finding that it was not possible to produce muscular dystrophy experimentally in calves when they were given rations low in tocopherol content but free of fat⁶.