Riboflavin deficiency occurred in the broiler chicks

육용계 병아리에서 발생한 리보플라빈 결핍증

The chicks from 6 field broiler farms revealed peripheral neuropathy including leg weakness, curled toes and drooped wings. Grossly distinctive enlargements of sciatic nerve, branchial nerve and lumbar nerve were observed in the chicks. Histologically nerve lesions consisted of demyelination of myelin sheaths, Schwann cell proliferation and swelling, and interstitial edema in the peripheral nerves of all birds examined. Axonal swelling and infiltration of small lymphocytes were observed, but not a primary lesion. After treatment of riboflavin, neurological disorder was markedly recovered. From these results, it is suggested that the peripheral nerve lesions in these cases were caused by dietary riboflavin deficiency.