SPINDLE LEG AND FOLIC ACID 

Carlos Cabrera
Sweden

I am a student of molecular biology and found Hugo Claessen's text interesting so checked Folic Acid in one of my chemistry books. The description given was the following: "Folic acid, pteroyl-L-glutamic acid, vitamin B. Folic acid and its derivatives (mostly the tri- and heptaglutamyl peptides) are widespread in nature. It is a specific growth factor for certain micro organisms, but in animals the intestinal bacteria provide the small quantity needed for growth. The coenzyme forms are actually the reduced products of folic acid. The main function of 5,6,7,8, -tetrahydrofolate (THFA) is a carrier of a C1 (methanoate) unit in the biosynthesis of purines, serine and glycine. The nitrogen atoms at positions 5 and 10 are the reactive sites of the molecule. Green leaves are specially rich in this molecule". 

In my opinion this description suggests two possibilities: 

a) The lack of a complete intestinal bacterial flora in captive bred or wild caught livestock in hobbyists' terraria could be one of the causes of deficiency in folic acid intake by the organism. Those bacteria could exist in the natural dendrobatid biotopes but may not survive in terraria. It would be quite interesting to compare the rates of spindle-leg-syndrome in the offspring of newly captured frogs, those of captive bred animals and those that have been kept in captivity for longer periods. 

b) The lack of folic acid should imply the lack of 5,6,7,8, -tetrahydrofolate that could affect the synthesis of the two amino acids, serine and glycine. This in turn could affect the synthesis of lipids and proteins and thus be one of the factors causing the described muscular atrophy. Vitamin E is essential for fertility and reproduction. Deficiency in rats leads to abortion in the female and loss of fertility in the male. The richest sources are seeds and their oils, and green leaves. The vitamin works as an antioxidant". You may remember from Mr Claessen's article that vitamin E prevents the formation of free radicals (anti oxidating effect), which are one of the most active mutagens (substances able to change the genetic information in the DNA).  

Reference
Dictionary of Chemistry  D.W.A. Shap Penguin Books

Read Spindle Leg 1
Read Spindle Leg 2
Read Spindle Leg 3