III. Avian Thiamine Deficiency

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Abstract
Young pigeons fed a highly purified thiamine-free diet by tube in quantities sufficient to prevent large weight loss invariably developed an acute thiamine deficiency characterized by opisthotonus. When the ration was made only partially adequate by additions of thiamine, ataxia and leg weakness developed in all pigeons and cardiac failure in many. The intramuscular administration of thiamine promptly relieved the opisthotonus and the mild cardiac failure. Leg weakness, however, was restored to normal only slowly, irrespective of the presence of absence of other factors of the “B complex” and severe cardiac failure often did not respond to treatment. The thiamine requirement varied with the food intake, 1.25 μg. per gram of diet II were required for pigeons to remain symptom-free. The assumption that the absence of a hypothetical factor (vitamin B4) is responsible for the development of a paralysis when the thiamine intake is low is unnecessary in the case of pigeons. This paralysis is a characteristic symptom of chronic thiamine deficiency. The question is raised as to whether this is not also the case for the chick and rat.

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