Effect of Biotin Deficiency on the Course of Plasmodium lophur Infection in Chicks

Abstract

It has generally been assumed that malnutrition decreases the resistance of the organism to malaria. The first experimental evidence to support this view is Trager's1,2 recently published observation suggesting that biotin deficiency increased the severity of certain avian malaria infections. Similarly, Caldwell and Gyorgy have reported that biotin deficiency will prolong Trypanosoma lewisi infections in the rat.3Since we had found, in experiments to be reported soon, that a deficiency in certain dietary factors which have not yet been chemically characterized has a pronounced effect on the course of Plasmodium lophurœ infections in chicks, we were interested in determining whether or not the effect of biotin deficiency on avian malaria was specific. In this communication we are reporting experiments on the relationship of biotin deficiency to the severity of P. lophurœ infections which, although the diets and experimental procedures used differed from those of Trager, confirm his findings on the specific...