Abstract
Experimental rickets was produced according to the technique of Steenbock and Black, 1 with the modification of our paired feeding technique, so as to eliminate the influence of the plane of nutrition. 2 The animals were 29 to 55 days of age, and weighed 50 to 58 gm. at the beginning of the experiments. Since the ricketic type of diet employed allows only very small increases of weight, the size of the animals at the time of sacrificing yielded insufficient amount of blood for all the blood serum enzyme determinations; hence, some groups were taken for blood serum amylase and esterase, and others for blood serum phosphatase. Of the total numbers of groups studied, 24 showed by the line tests severe experimental rickets; 4, advanced; 8, moderate; and 2, mild.
There was a total of 658 titrations carried out in this investigation in duplicate, the results of which are summarized in Table I.
It will be noted that no noteworthy changes are apparent in concentration of blood and tissue enzymes in rickets developed in the albino rat compared with enzyme concentrations on the same diet supplemented with vitamin D supplied by irradiation of the ricketic ration.
The significant point in this study is the failure to obtain in experimental rickets large increases in concentration of blood serum phosphatase observed in human rickets. 3 ' 4 As a matter of fact, Bodansky and Jaffe 4 claim that the concentration of this blood enzyme is of even greater diagnostic value than blood phosphorus and calcium. It would appear then that experimental rickets is not the analogue of human rickets as it is generally assumed.
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