Effects of cobalt deficiency in pregnant and post-parturient ewes and their lambs

1. Two groups of ewes were fed on a cobalt-deficient diet throughout pregnancy; one group (group A) was given the diet from the beginning of pregnancy, whilst the other (group B) received the diet for 16 weeks before mating. The ewes in group A continued to receive the diet for 12 weeks post-partum. 2. The vitamin B12 content of serum was estimated on three occasions before parturition and, for group A ewes, at 12 weeks post partum. Urinary concentration of methylmalonic acid was also determined at intervals before the lambs were born. 3. Serum values for vitamin B12 indicated that the ewes in both groups were depleted of the vitamin, though those in group B were more severely affected, as was evidenced by the high incidence of perinatal mortality among the lambs born to these ewes. Perinatal mortality appeared to be associated with abnormally-high values for urinary concentration of methylmalonic acid. 4. Analysis of liver lipids and adipose tissue triacylglycerols of some of the vitamin B12 -deprived lambs which died before, or within 1 d of, birth showed that, compared with the corresponding tissues of control lambs, these lipids contained unusually high proportions of odd-numbered fatty acids (mostly 15:0, 17:0 and 19:0). This observation is discussed in relation to the likelihood that, in vitamin B12-deprived lambs, propionate becomes available as a primer unit for fatty acid synthesis when the metabolism of its carboxylation product, methylmalonic acid, is impaired due to partial lack of a vitamin B12-containing enzyme system.