The Effect of Daily Massive Doses of Viosterol upon Calcium and Phosphorus Metabolism and Blood Calcium and Inorganic Phosphorus in Calves

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Abstract
The beneficial effect of the administration of normal doses of cod-liver oil or irradiated ergosterol in young calves has been definitely established but the effect of abnormally large doses of irradiated ergosterol in young calves is relatively unknown. This study was undertaken to observe the possible toxic symptoms and pathologic results produced by excessive daily doses of viosterol in calves on a normal and on a high calcium and phosphorus intake. Calcium and phosphorus balances were determined upon two young healthy calves on a natural ration of whole milk. The blood calcium and inorganic phos- phorus values of these same animals were studied together with values obtained from two other young calves on a whole milk ration but on a lower calcium, phosphorus and viosterol intake. Several observations prior to and since our experiments have indicated that the degree of toxicity of irradiated ergosterol is partially dependent upon the calcium-phosphorus ratio of the diet (1) (2) (3) (4). Young canes are normally on a diet of whole milk in which this ratio is approxi- mately 1 : 1. In order to supply the metabolism animals with an abundance of calcium and phosphorus, the ration was supplemented with enough mono- calcium phosphate to bring the total intake of these elements to 15 grams of each per day. The results of metabolism studies have been reported on rats (5) (6) (7) (8), rabbits (9), dogs and infants (10), therefore an extensive review of this literature is not necessary. ~XPERIMENTAL