Phospholipids in artificially induced muscular dystrophy of calves.

I. Phospholipds were studied in the heart muscles, skeletal muscles and livers of scven Ayrshire calves which received vitamin E-free maize 011 (in filled milk) VTith and without supplementary a-tocopherol from I week old for 17 d. The calves that were not given vitamin F: developed muscular dystrophy. 2. Decreased amounts of cardiolipin and increased amounts of sphlngomyelin were found in the skeletal muscles of vitamin E-deficient caives. There was a significant decrease of phosphatidyl choline in the livers of vitamin E-deficlent calves. 3. Thc decrease in cardiolipin concentration confirmed the electron-microscopical picture (reported elsewhere) of preferential destruction of mitochondria in muscular dystrophy of calves.