The requirement of sheep for cobalt or for vitamin B12

Abstract

1. Sheep confined topens and given a cobalt-deficient ration which supplied about 30μgCo/d required for maintenance of normal growth rate a Co supplement approaching 40 μg administered per os daily; for maintenance of what appeared, under the conditions of the experiments described, to be the maximum vitamin B12 status of a sheep, namely 3 ng vitamin B12/ml serum and 1.4 μg vitamin B12/g liver tissue, a supplement of between 0.5 and 1.0 mg Co/d per os was necessary.2. For maintenance of normal growth rate the minimum daily requirement for vitamin B12 of sheep given the Co-deficient diet was about 11μg: about 5 μg absorbed from the gut and about 6 μg injected parenterally.3. Extrapolation of the linear regression obtained by plotting the amount of vitamin B12injected/d against concentration of vitamin B12 in the liver tissue of a sheep indicated that to attain a concentration of 1.4 μg vitamin B12/g liver (wet weight) injection of 34 μg vitamin B12/d was necessary.4. Comparison of the relative effects on body-weight of the administration of 100 μg vitamin B12/dper os and 3.12 μg vitamin B12/d by injection to sheep given the Co-deficient diet indicated that the efficiency of absorption of the vitamin from the gut was < 3%.5. Loss of appetite, the first symptom of vitamin B12 deficiency to appear in the sheep, occurred when the concentration of vitamin B12 in the liver was reduced to about 0.1 μg/g wet weight.6. In sheep given a supplement of 1 mg Co/d per os neither production in the rumen nor absorption from the gut but rather capacity for storage limited the concentration of vitamin B12 in the liver.7. Following treatment to restore the vitamin B12 status of a sheep whose stores of the vitamin had been depleted, there was a linear negative correlation between the increase in the concentration of vitamin B12 in the liver and the concentration prior to treatment.8. Following withdrawal of treatment from a sheep whose stores of vitamin B12 were adequate, there was a linear positive correlation between the rate of depletion of vitamin B12 from the liver and the concentration prior to cessation of treatment.9. The concentrations of vitamin B12 in the serums of sheep given the Co-deficient diet, and given a supplement of 1 mg Co/d per os 0.5 h after feeding, remained relatively stable over the period 0–7 h after feeding; maximum concentration occurred 7–8 h after feeding.10. Under the conditions of the experiments described a significant linear regression existed between concentration of vitamin B12 in the liver of a sheep and the logarithm of the concentration in the serum.