Sulphonamides and Potato Starch Refection in the Rat

Abstract

IN the last few years much work has been done, mostly in the United States, on the effect of sulphonamide drugs on the synthetic activities of intestinal bacteria. These studies have yielded valuable information about the synthesis of vitamins and other substances in the gut and their availability to the host. As experimental animals, rats receiving purified diets supplemented with various vitamins have been largely used. It has occurred to us that rats displaying the phenomenon of refection^1,2,3, that is, the ability to grow and thrive in the absence of the vitamin B complex from the diet, would be particularly suitable for such work. Refected rats are entirely dependent on their symbiotic microflora for the supply of certain essential factors ; any interference, therefore, with the activities of these microorganisms can be easily detected. In the absence of an exogenous supply, metabolic balances of vitamin synthesis and utilization become possible with refected animals. Finally, refection renders rats in some respects akin to ruminants⁴, and a study of digestive phenomena in the refected rat may help to throw some light on these processes in the bovine.