Further Observations of Riboflavin Deficiency in the Dog

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Abstract
Prolonged subsistence on a diet low in riboflavin has led to the development of neurologic abnormalities in dogs, as evidenced by clumsiness in hurdling obstacles and in treading a revolving table, and finally by loss of the deep reflexes of the limbs. This was accompanied by myelin degeneration of peripheral nerves and the posterior columns of the spinal cord, becoming more extensive with the length of the period on the deficient diet. The administration of crystalline riboflavin to inanition control dogs maintained them in apparently perfect health, as judged during life, and largely prevented degenerative changes in the nervous system. An increased fat content of the cells in otherwise normal livers was observed irregularly in the animals fed the inadequate diet; it was seen also in the inanition control dogs. This suggests that these changes in the liver are to be attributed to the accompanying inanition rather than specifically to the lack of riboflavin. In the dog, as in the rat, the appearance of opacities of the cornea may be one of the effects of deprivation of riboflavin.

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