RICKETS AND OSTEOPOROSIS IN XENOPUS LAEVIS

Abstract

Gross deformities appeared in Xenopus laevis maintained for about 2 yr. under laboratory conditions on a diet containing no live food. Radiographs of the affected animals revealed defective calcification of the skeleton. All animals bred in the colony were defective, and only the original adults taken from the wild had normal bones. A description of the different types of skeleton found, and later produced experimentally, is given. An analysis of the conditions under which the defects became manifest showed X. laevis to be very susceptible to lack of vitamin D. Calcification in this species is greatly affected by the nature of the basal food. Normal bones are formed when the toads are fed on a diet of rabbit liver (or ox liver) supplemented with cod-liver oil and calcium. Horse liver is toxic, causing a depression of growth and a failure of calcification even with the supplements. With guinea-pig muscle a far larger supplement of vitamin D is required to prevent the development of general calcium deficiency and to permit normal bone formation. The failure of calcification is identified as rickets with osteoporosis and its relation to these diseases in other species is discussed.