Abstract
Although fed with an inositol-deficient diet for more than 3 months, young rats seemed unlikely to have any symptoms of alopecia or spectacled eye in appearance. However, when myo-inositol was given together with the above diet, rats showed a marked increase of growth. Thus, it was observed without any exceptions, that the rate of increase of body weight of the inositol-fed animals was about 35 per cent higher than that of the animals fed with an inositol-deficient diet, in the 4 trials of examination. When rats were fed with the diet containing inositol hexaacetate instead of free inositol, similar promotion of growth was observed. The result suggested the possibility that O-substituted derivatives of inositol might be used in place of free inositol.
