Manganese Deficiency in Rats with Relation to Ataxia and Loss of Equilibrium

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Abstract
Rats have been raised through 4 generations on a diet otherwise adequate but supplying only 0.03 mg of manganese per day to an adult rat. After the first generation several animals of each generation developed symptoms of ataxia and disturbance in equilibrium which appeared earlier in each successive generation. Slight stimuli greatly exaggerated these symptoms. Serial sections of the temporal bones and brains of these animals, stained with hematoxylin and eosin and according to the method of Weil ('28), failed to reveal any lesions that might be responsible for the symptoms. The presence of a chemical lesion in these areas due to the manganese deficiency is suggested.