Nutritional Muscular Dystrophy in Calves. II. Addition of Selenium and Tocopherol to a Basal, Dystrophogenic Diet Containing Cod-Liver oil

Nutritional muscular dystrophy was produced experimentally in Holstein-Friesian calves. The addition of cod-liver oil to the diet caused an intensification of Zenker's degeneration in the muscles of the tocopherol-deficient calves. One p.p.m. of selenium added to the basal diet did not prevent muscular dystrophy. The addition of 200mg. of water-dispersible d-alpha-tocopheryl acetate per calf per day completely prevented the development of muscular dystrophy in all calves so treated. All calves which were not fed tocopherol supplements developed Zenker's degeneration of the skeletal and tongue muscles and degeneration of the Purkinje fibers of the heart. Since blood serum magnesium levels declined progressively in all calves in the experiment, it is possible that low blood magnesium levels may work synergistically with low blood tocopherol levels to produce Purkinje fiber degeneration.