The Excretion of Vitamin B by Artificially Fed Infants.

Abstract

Vitamin B in the urine and feces of animals and in human urine has been demonstrated by Muckenfuss, Van Der Walle, and Cooper. According to Cowgill the vitamin in the urine represents the amount ingested in excess of the needs of the animal, whereas that in the fecal excretion has been shown to be unabsorbed material. The presence of Vitamin B in the urine of an animal, therefore, would seem to indicate the adequacy of the diet as a source of this factor; and the amount of the vitamin excreted in the feces should give some measure of the amount not available to the organism. With such an interpretation in mind, a study of the intake and excretion of Vitamin B (the antineuritic factor) has been made on a group of 11 artificially fed infants and the retention of the vitamin determined. Thirty-three collections of urine and feces were tested. The food of all the children consisted essentially of cow's milk, a carbohydrate modifier free from Vitamin B, orange juice, and cod liver oil. In a few cases a Vitamin B containing extract was added to the feeding mixture in order to ascertain the influence of a larger ingestion. The determination of the amounts of Vitamin B in the ingested food and in the excreta was made by a biological assay on young rats of uniform weight and uniformly depleted of their vitamin stores. Each sample of the concentrated urine and dried feces was fed at various levels, from one to 6 rats being used at each level. Parallel experiments with yeast indicated no destruction of Vitamin B by the methods of concentrating and drying employed.