Abstract
Fridericia 1 reported to the XII International Physiological Congress at Stockholm a phenomenon of apparent acquired immunity to deficiency of vitamin B in rats receiving a diet devoid of this vitamin group, but presumed to be adequate in all other respects. He stated that “In spite of the deprivation of B-vitamin a few of the rats resumed their normal rate of growth, and at the same time a change occurred in their intestinal tract, manifesting itself by their feces turning white and bulky. Eating of feces was prevented (wiregauze bottom in cages). Control rats, also fed on a diet devoid of B-vitamin, behaved in the usual way (growth stopping after 1 to 3 weeks, death after 4 to 5 weeks).”
To the restoration phenomenon Fridericia gave the name “refection”. Subsequently he 2 described its manifestations in detail including the characteristic high content of undigested uncooked rice starch in the “white” feces. The hypothesis was offered that multiplication of micro-organisms supplying vitamin B occurs in “refected” rats; hence the unexpected resumption of growth. By feeding the feces of “refected” individuals to other rats that were showing failure of growth on a B-free diet, “refection” could often be induced and growth restored. The feces then always turned “white”. Many additional surprising details have been recorded.
The “spontaneous cures” in rats reared on diets devoid of the vitamin B components have also been recorded by Roscoe 3 from the Lister Institute in London. However, “refection” did not occur there when the diet was cooked or the starch was replaced by a soluble carbohydrate. Workers 4 in the Cambridge Biochemical Laboratory likewise have reported that from time to time rats on a vitamin B-free diet would decline for a short time only, and then resume growth, and continue to grow at a nearly or quite normal rate.
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