Male albino rats (Charles Foster, n = 40) were fed a synthetic diet deficient in
vitamin A for 4 weeks. Six rats died during the depletion period. Of the 34 surviving, 5 rats were continued on the
vitamin A deficient diet for 4 more weeks and 24 were repleted with
vitamin A (4000 IU/kg diet) in the form of
vitamin A acetate (group A, n = 8), fresh drumstick leaves (group B, n = 8) or dehydrated drumstick leaves (group C, n = 8) for 4 weeks. The remaining 10 rats were continued on the
vitamin A adequate diet for 4 (n = 5) and 8 weeks, respectively (n = 5). A marked reduction in food intake,
body weight, accompanied by clinical signs of
vitamin A deficiency and a decline in serum
vitamin A (29.2 to 19.1 microg/dL) and liver
vitamin A (3.7 to 2.0 microg/dL) were seen at the end of 4 weeks of feeding a
vitamin A deficient diet. On repletion significant improvements in clinical signs, food intake and
body weights were noted in the three groups compared to the baseline (n = 5) and at the end of 4 weeks of depletion. The gain in
body weight was highest for the group repleted with dehydrated drumstick leaves. Among the repleted groups, the serum
vitamin A was highest for group A (34.7 microg/dL) given synthetic
vitamin A, compared to group B (25.8 microg/dL) and group C (28.2 microg/dL) given drumstick leaves. All these were significantly higher than the serum
vitamin A values seen at the end of 4 weeks of depletion (19.1 microg/dL). A significant improvement was also observed in the liver
retinol levels on repletion for 4 weeks in the three groups, compared to the
vitamin A depleted rats. These results imply that
beta-carotene from drumstick leaves was effective in overcoming
vitamin A deficiency although serum
vitamin A levels remained somewhat lower compared to the group repleted with
vitamin A acetate. In terms of growth parameters, the fresh and dehydrated drumstick leaves were better than the synthetic
vitamin A. It is therefore concluded that in the developing countries like India, sources of
vitamin A such as drumstick leaves are valuable in overcoming the problem of
vitamin A deficiency.