Recovery from the Anemia Caused by a Diet Deficient in Vitamin K

The purpose of this investigation was to ascertain whether the restoration to normal of the clotting time of chicks on a diet deficient in Vitamin K was accompanied by a cure of the existing anemia. This anemia has been observed by Dam, 1 and Hoist and Halbrook, 2 but thus far no extensive investigations on the regeneration of hemoglobin have been made. The changes toward normal produced by the administration of minute quantities of a Vitamin K concentrate were so rapid that it seemed desirable to report our results.

The chicks used in our experiments were one-day-old white Leghorns hatched from eggs laid by hens which had been fed a diet relatively free from Vitamin K. They were raised in battery brooders and had free access to food and water. The basal diet used in these experiments was that of Almquist 3 with only minor modifications. Our active extract was prepared from alfalfa meal by an adaptation of the methods of Dam and Sch⊘Hnheyder 4 and of Almquist. 3

Blood was drawn from the brachial vein, samples being taken for the determination of clotting time, hemoglobin, and the erythrocyte count. The clotting time (Sch⊘nheyder 5 ) was determined by allowing the blood to flow directly into a small porcelain dish. Zero time was taken as the time when the first drop fell into the dish. When the blood no longer flowed upon tilting the dish it was considered to be clotted. The blood was observed for 300 minutes, if it failed to clot in a shorter time. The hemoglobin was determined by the method of Palmer 6 in which the hemoglobin is converted to carbon monoxide hemoglobin and compared with a standard solution of carbon monoxide hemoglobin in a colorimeter.