PRODUCTION OF PERNICIOUS ANAEMIA (BARTONELLA ANAEMIA) IN RATS BY DEFICIENT FEEDING

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Abstract
The dietetic survey of various classes of women in Bombay suggested that the disease occurring in pregnant women known as "pernicious anemia of pregnancy" was closely connected with a relative deficiency of vitamins A and C in their diet. In this connection a series of experiments was carried out at Coonoor in which diets relatively deficient in these vitamins led to the production of a severe anemia in intact albino rats, especially in the [female] animals; it was further shown to be a true "Bartonella anemia." The term "Bartonella anemia" is used to describe the well-known anemia of rats which occurs after splenectomy in infected stock, and is associated with the appearance of Bartonella "organisms" in the red cells; it is used without prejudice as to the exact nature of these small bodies. A severe anemia, more severe and more frequent in [female][female] than in [male][male], has been produced in rats by feeding them on diets low in vitamins A and C. Blood examination revealed the presence of Bartonella muris in the red cells of the anemic rats. Splenectomy experiments showed that all the Coonoor rats were infected with Bartonella. Liver, spleen, and vitamin A concentrate failed to protect the rats from this anemia after splenectomy.

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