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Effect of Diets Marginal in Methionine and Choline with and without Vitamin B^1,2,

Department of Nutrition and Food Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts

The effects of diets marginal in methionine and choline, without cystine, and with varying vitamin B₁₂ were investigated in rats for a period of 6 months. Weight gains were slower for the first 12 weeks in rats fed the diets low in methionine and choline but at 6 months these values were equal to or higher than the control groups. A high proportion (87 to 90%) of the rats fed the low methionine and low choline diets showed striking microscopic lesions in the inner cortex of the kidney and non-calcified, mucoid structures in the urinary bladder. Addition of methionine, choline and vitamin B₁₂ to the diet prevented all abnormalities. The liver was histologically normal and unaffected by the low methionine and low choline intake. Total plasma proteins and single fractions were unaffected except for a decrease in -globulin in rats fed the low methionine, low choline diet.

² Contribution no. 769 from the Department of Nutrition and Food Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Manuscript received 3 January 1966.