Effect of undernutrition and vitamin A deficiency on the phospholipid composition of rat tissues at 21 days of age. -- II. Lung, heart and testes.

Undernutrition and vitamin A deficiency during early period of life causes a significant decrease in lung, heart and testes weights. But the concentration of total phospholipid was unaffected. However the individual phospholipids showed some changes. The concentration of phosphatidyl ethanolamine was decreased in the lung from vitamin A deficient rats. On the other hand sphingomyelin and cardiolipin showed a marked increase in heart. The concentration of phosphatidyl serine and inositol fraction was significantly lower in testes from undernourished rats as compared to controls.