Cervical scoliosis and kidney lesions in sheep following dosage with vitamin D

Cervical and thoracic vertebral malformation ("weak neck") in Colombia lambs

The purpose of this study is to describe a developmental defect of the caudal cervical and cranial thoracic vertebrae in 11 purebred Colombia lambs. The lambs were either affected at birth, or developed the condition within the first 18 days of age. Cervicothoracic kyphosis, with a compensatory cervical lordosis and ataxia were common; 8 lambs had abnormal head posture, characterized by inability to lift the head from the ground. One lamb had rigid head and neck, and had to move the entire body to look to the left or right. Neurological signs included ataxia, tetraparesis, diminished conscious proprioception, and increased patellar and triceps reflexes. One lamb had inspiratory stridor because of compression of the trachea in the area overlying the abnormal vertebrae (cervical vertebrae 6 [C6] and 7 [C7]). Radiographic and pathological abnormalities included malalignment and malarticulation of the caudal cervical and cranial thoracic spine, rounded cranioventral margins in the bodies of vertebrae C7 and T1, wedging of the intervertebral disc spaces between C6 and T1 vertebrae, and hypoplasia of the dens. Pathological changes in the soft tissues included hypoplasia of the cervical epaxial and hypaxial musculature, with associated focal areas of myodegeneration. Mild Wallerian axonal degeneration, compatible with a mild cord compression syndrome, was found in 3 lambs in the cervicothoracic spinal cord adjacent to the vertebral anomalies. The concentrations of copper and selenium in blood, plasma, or tissues were normal in 10 of 11 lambs. All but one of the lambs in which pedigree information was provided were genetically related. Siblings born as twins to 5 of the affected lambs were normal, but both lambs from one twin pregnancy were affected. Owners reported that breeding stock had been shared among the ranches. Because of the close familial relationships of the affected lambs, the condition is suspected to have a hereditary basis.

The response of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations to vitamin D intake and insolation in sheep

1. Vitamin D-depleted, housed sheep were given diets providing fixed intakes of cholecalciferol ranging from 0.0 to 0.8 microgram/kg body-wt per d for 220 d. Thereafter they were shorn, deprived of dietary cholecalciferol and turned out from 30 June to 30 November. The concentration of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25-OHD) in serum was determined at frequent intervals. 2. The serum concentrations of 25-OHD took approximately 10 weeks to stabilize after which they reflected dietary intake over 0.1--0.4 microgram/kg body-wt per d. For intakes of 0.4 and 0.8 microgram/kg body-wt per d the mean maximum concentrations were similar, but the rates of increase differed. The latter was proportional to the logarithm of intake over the range studied. 3. Changes in serum 25-OHD due to insolation were similar in all sheep regardless of their starting values, and consequently in some animals reached levels considerably greater than from the dietary source. 4. Although the response of serum 25-OHD to the higher dietary intakes appeared to be limited there was no evidence of any such control over the response ot endogenously-synthesized vitamin.