Growth and water content of the eyeball of the albino rat in protein deficiency

Protein malnutrition has been described (Brock & Autret, 1952) as 'the most serious and widespread nutritional disorder known to medical and nutritional science'.Many aspects of protein deficiency in the rat have been studied, but little attention has been paid to its effects on the eye.The observations presented here were made as part of a study of the changes resulting from the feeding of rats on diets low in protein, designed to simulate those commonly consumed by some malnourished human communities. Growth of the eyeI n his extensive studies on the effects of partial and total inanition on the growth of various organs of the albino rat, Jackson (1925) found that the eye was one of the organs least affected, and that in this respect it resembled the brain and spinal cord.The method used was to hold constant the body-weight of young rats of various ages, for varying periods of time, by underfeeding.He compared the final weights of the organs with those of body-weight controls.Barry (1920) made a similar study of the organ weights of newborn rats from dams underfed during the latter half of pregnancy.In a comparison with control foetuses of the same body-weight he found that, next to the spleen, the eye showed the greatest increase in weight.