Skeletal Development in Rats as Affected by Maternal Protein Deprivation and Postnatal Food Supply

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Abstract
The effects of maternal protein deprivation and postnatal food supply on the initiation of ossification, changes in bone length and width and body weight of fetal and postnatal progeny of female rats are reported. Fetal young of control females (24% casein diet) and protein-deprived females (6% casein diet), and the postnatal young of these dams reared from birth in foster litters of 10 (large litters) or four (small litters) were examined. Body weight was significantly reduced and the time of appearance of ossification centers was significantly delayed during the fetal period and the first 14 days of postnatal life of progeny of protein-deprived female rats. Augmentation of the food supply achieved by reduction of litter size resulted in compensatory changes in body weight, but not in the time of appearance of ossification sites. Ossification center formation was more influenced by maternal diet and chronological age than by postnatal nutrition. Body weight gain and the increase in vertebral column length and in the length and width of the long bones were also decreased in male progeny of protein-deprived rats to the age of 90 days.