Effect of Indigestible Oils on Vitamin K Deficiency in the Rat

Studies of indigestible oils such as mineral oil and squalene were undertaken to determine their effect on vitamin K deficiency in the rat. Severe hypoprothrombinemia occurred in male rats fed a vitamin K-deficient diet containing as little as 0.5% of the oil and the effect was reversed by feeding vitamin K. Female rats were partially resistant to the treatment. Dietary squalene also interrupted the assimilation of vitamin K in chicks where 0.5% of dietary oil inhibited the utilization of 0.1 µg of phylloquinone/g of diet. Similar results were obtained in chicks fed retinyl acetate and retinoic acid.