Studies on Encephalomalacia in the Chick

Abstract

DAM et al. (1948, 1951) have shown that various antioxidants used in lieu of vitamin E in the diet will afford partial protection to the chick against exudative diathesis and encephalomalacia. Among the substances tested, they found that methylene blue (0.126% of the diet), thionine (0.089%), thiodiphenyl-amine (0.0675%), antabuse (0.025%), nordihydroguaiaretic acid (0.5%), and ascorbic acid (0.5%) afforded considerable, but not complete, protection against exudative diathesis. In the case of encephalomalacia, only methylene blue gave complete protection. Recent work of Singsen et al. (1955) has shown that the antioxidant N, N′-diphenyl-p-phenylenediamine (DPPD) was very effective in preventing encephalomalacia. Since DPPD appeared to offer excellent promise in the prevention of this disorder, it seemed advisable to test other antioxidants as to their ability to prevent encephalomalacia when added to the chick’s diet at reasonable levels. Singsen et al. (1955) have shown that the primary protective action of DPPD is in the …