The Anemia of Human Riboflavin Deficiency.

By MONTAGUE LAisn AND CLARENCE P. ALFREY, Jn. T HE RAPID INDUCTION of experimental riboflavin deficiency in man resulted in the development of a severe anemia which was reversed by riboflavin administration.1’2 In addition to the anemia, the patients developed a deficiency syndrome characterized by sore throat, hyperemia and edema of the pharyngeal and oral mucous membranes, cheilosis, angular stomatitis, glossitis with loss of filiform papillae and hypertrophy of fungiform papillae, seborrheic dermatitis of the face and ears, scrotal dermatitis, and dermatitis of the trunk and extremities. These observations were made in the course of evaluation of the antitumor effects of antagonist-induced riboflavin deficiency. In the present paper we report the details of the morphologic and ferrokinetic changes characteristic of the anemia of human riboflavin deficiency.