The possible role of riboflavin deficiency in epithelial neoplasia.I. epithelial changes of mice in simple deficiency

Abstract

DEMON-E strated that there are associations between Plummer-Vinson disease as well as high alcohol consumption and cancer of the upper alimentary tract.",36, 37 Nutritional deficiencies have been postulated to form the basis for these associations.Plummer-Vinson disease appears to be primarily a result of long-term iron deficiency, while alcoholism is believed to relate to deficiencies of the Vitamin B g r o ~p .~~, 3 5In this group of vitamins, it has been suggested that riboflavin has also some relationship to Plummer-Vinson disease.12.15With this background, we attempted to investigate the possible effects of iron and riboflavin deficiencies on the integrity of epithelial tissues, particularly those of the upper alimentary tract and skin of mice.Both iron and riboflavin play indispensable roles in respiratory enzyme systems.Since riboflavin deficiency is easier to produce than iron deficiency, we concentrated on studies with riboflavin deficient diets.This report is the first in a series of studies designed to elucidate the mechanism by which riboflavin deficiencies might affect the morphology of epithelial cells and the development of neoplastic alterations.Herein we present findings relative to epithelial changes in mice kept on different riboflavindeficient diets.In the future, we will present data on such diets in conjunction with the application of carcinogenic substances and with tumor promotors.Previous Studies: Nutritional investigations conducted on man and laboratory animals have demonstrated that riboflavin deficiency has an adverse influence on several types of tissue, including the epidermis.Several previous studies have been concerned with morphological changes in epithelial tissue.Lippincott and Morris described atrophic changes of the epithelium of the skin and atrophy of the underlying dermis, as well as