Studies on the experimental production of endomyocardial fibrosis and cardiomegaly of unknown origin by dietary means.

Three groups of rats were kept on diets similar to those eaten by indigenous inhabitants in parts of Africa where CUO and EMF are commonly found, for 30 months. Many of the animals on a tryptophan-deficient diet developed CUO whereas those on a tryptophan-deficient diet which contained a 5-HT content also developed lesions similar to EMF. The third group of rats, which ate a diet similar to this second group but supplemented by a high-protein intake, did not develop any cardiac lesions.