A Chronic Deficiency of (1) Calcium, (2) Vitamin C, and (3) Both Calcium and Vitamin C in Monkeys

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Abstract
The influence of a chronic deficiency of Ca, vit. C, and a combined deficiency of these dietary components was studied in young monkeys. Symptoms of Ca depletion appear after about 1 yr. on a diet containing 10.2 mg. per 100 g. of diet. They consist of loss of wt., weakness, muscular atrophy, irritability, decreased activity, and a paralysis of the hind legs developed in one animal. The bones of all monkeys on a Ca deficient diet showed a very low Ca content. The bones of 2 young monkeys on a vit. C deficient diet showed a low Ca content as compared with two older animals in the same group. The conspicuous symptoms of chronic vit. C depletion observed in the monkeys of this expt. are: anorexia, loss of wt., loss of hair, hemorrhage of the gingiva and other tissues, inability to walk because of extensive joint hemorrhage, and finally ankylosis of knee joints. There was no evidence that a chronic deficiency of both Ca and vit. C influenced the course of these animals other than what might be anticipated from an addition of their individual effects.

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