Generalized glycogen storage disease in Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica)

Two Japanese quail which were incapable of wing movement and three normal quail were examined by histological and ultrastructural methods. The diseased birds had glycogen deposits in their skeletal muscle, cardiac muscle, smooth muscle, and nerve cells of the brain and spinal cord. According to the distribution of the lesions and the characteristics of the deposited glycogen, the diseased birds had glycogenosis which was analogous to type II found in man. The usefulness of this disease as a model for glycogenosis in man is discussed.