ABRUPTIO PLACENTAE IN VITAMIN E DEFICIENT GUINEA PIGS

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Abstract
Female guinea pigs, weighing 200-300 g. at the beginning of the expt., were given an almost-vitamin E-free diet, and varying amts. of DL-alpha-tocopherylphosphate. After 3 months the animals were mated. With a daily supply of less than 0.4 mg. of free tocopherol the animals aborted on the 20th to 30th day of pregnancy due to necrosis and premature separation of the placentae. With increasing amts. of vitamin E,abortions took place at successively later stages of pregnancy, and the pregnancy ended with normal delivery when the animal received 1.6 mg. daily. The separation of the placentae was caused by changes in the maternal vessels of the placenta, and there was infarction of the placental tissue and hemorrhages. These changes were often followed by the deposition of large, birefringent, yellow crystals consisting of a metabolic type of pigment. All these pathological changes were prevented by a sufficient supply of vitamin E.

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