Abstract
Zucker and Matzner 1 showed that when rats develop rickets as the result of being placed on a standard rickets-inducing ration, high in calcium and low in phosphorus, the feces become more alkaline and that on the administration of cod liver oil the reaction veers quickly to the acid side. These observations have been amply substantiated. Grayzel and Miller 2 showed later that the reaction of the intestinal contents of dogs is acid throughout almost the entire length of the gut, but that this reaction tends to become alkaline when rickets is brought about. As in the case of the rat the reaction reverts to normal on the administration of cod liver oil or treatment with ultra-violet irradiation.
Our investigation was carried out on white rats weighing approximately 50 gm., i. e., about 4 weeks of age. Its main purpose was to ascertain whether rickets leads to a change in the flora of the intestinal tract and whether, after the animal is treated with ultra-violet rays and healing of the rachitic lesion is brought about, there was any associated modification of the flora. The rats were fed the rickets-inducing ration of McCollum and some were irradiated with a mercury vapor lamp. Immediately after the animals were killed by trauma they were autopsied and segments of the intestinal tract were tied off; that of the small intestine extending from the duodenum to the lower ileum and that of the large intestine extending from somewhat below the caecum to the beginning of the rectum. The content of each of these segments was squeezed out and the H-ion reaction obtained as soon as possible by a colorimetric method (Clark and Lub indicators). The material was then suspended to a standard density in normal saline solution, gram-stained films prepared and cultures made by methods adequate to determine quantitatively and qualitatively the character of the flora.
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