Journal of Nutrition

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Journal of Nutrition Vol. 78 No. 1 September 1962, pp. 15-20
Copyright © 1962 by American Society for Nutrition
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Effects of Ubiquinones and Phytyl-Ubichromenol upon Encephalomalacia and Muscular Dystrophy in the Chick1

E. Søndergaard, M. L. Scott2 and H. Dam

Department of Biochemistry and Nutrition, Polytechnic Institute, Copenhagen, Denmark

Ubiquinone-50 (coenzyme Q10) or ubiquinone-30 (Q6) supplementation of vitamin E-deficient chick diets has been shown to produce a slight delaying effect upon symptoms of encephalomalacia but no effect upon muscular dystrophy.

Supplementation of encephalomalaciaproducing chick diets with 0.02% of phytyl-ubichromenol prevented encephalomalacia to approximately the same extent as that observed when the diet was supplemented with 60% of Torula yeast or Fleischmann's yeast, which represents the amounts of these yeasts needed to contribute approximately (calculated) 0.02% of ubichromenol to the diet. These results support, therefore, the suggestion that ubichromenol is the chief substance in yeast responsible for its encephalomalacia-preventing activity.

Although dietary phytyl-ubichromenol had a slight effect in the prevention of nutritional muscular dystrophy in chicks receiving a diet low in vitamin E and sulfur amino acids, the effect of this compound in the prevention of muscular dystrophy was not as great as its effect in prevention of encephalomalacia.

The results presented here show, therefore, that phytyl-ubichromenol is capable of reducing the incidence and severity of two vitamin E-deficiency diseases in the chick. Whether this is a primary metabolic effect or merely a sparing effect upon vitamin E remains to be determined.

1 Financial assistance from the Muscular Dystrophy Associations of America, Inc., and the Danish State Research Foundation is also gratefully acknowledged.

2 On leave (1961) from Cornell University.

Manuscript received 5 May 1962.




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