For the purpose of clarifying the cause of
white muscle disease (WMD) in calves,
tocopherol and
selenium levels and blood
glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) activity were measured on 10 calves with WMD and nine of their dams. The main clinical symptoms of the 10 calves with WMD were motor disturbances including recumbency and stiffness. Serum
enzyme activities (GOT, GPT, CPK, LDH) in calves with WMD increased markedly, and this increase was also observed in some of their dams. Serum
tocopherol levels of calves with WMD were low, 70% of which showing deficient levels of less than 70 micrograms/100 ml. Serum
selenium levels of all the calves were lower than 35 ppb, indicating a deficiency, and were accompanied by low blood GSH-Px activity.
alpha-Tocopherol and
selenium concentrations in organs were very low. Dams of calves with WMD showed low serum
tocopherol levels, 22% of which indicating deficient levels below 150 micrograms/100 ml. Serum
selenium levels in dams showed a marked decrease to under 20 ppb, and also low blood GSH-Px activity. Feedstuffs supplied in the farms to affected calves indicated very low
alpha-tocopherol contents (below 3 mg/100g DM) and low
selenium concentrations below 50 ppb in DM. It was concluded that WMD in calves was attributable to nutritional
muscular dystrophy caused by deficiencies in
tocopherol and
selenium in feedstuffs supplied to their dams.