Effects of Dietary Supplements in Preventing or Augmenting the Production of Cataracts in Rats by 1,4-Dimethane-Sulfonoxybutane

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Abstract
Oral administration of 1,4-dimethanesulfonoxybutane in a dose range between 350 and 1,600 µg per kilogram of body weight per day to growing male albino rats depressed hematopoeisis with accompanying cataract formations. The cataracts were irreversible and resembled those produced by irradiation and certain toxic chemicals such as naphthalene. Although blood sugar levels were slightly elevated it could not be concluded that this was the causative factor for the cataract production. Among the dietary and other biological substances tested in rats only the fats delayed toxicity symptoms and possibly prevented the appearance of cataracts at critical intake levels of busulfan up to 711 µg per kilogram of body weight per day for 21 weeks. Galactose, on the other hand, augmented cataract production even when the busulfan was given at doses as low as 268 µg per kilogram of body weight per day.