Effect of maternal protein and/or energy deficiency during pregnancy on catecholamines and serotonin in fetal rat brain.

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Abstract
The effect of maternal protein and/or energy deficiency during pregnancy on developmental changes in the levels of catecholamines and serotonin in fetal brain was studied. Pregnant rats were fed a 20, 6 or 0% casein diet from day 1 of pregnancy to the day of autopsy (day 18, 20 or 22 of pregnancy). In the control group the catecholamine content of the brain increased during pregnancy: 21 ng on day 18, 48 ng on day 20 and 52 ng on day 22. A similar increase was found in the group on a 6% casein diet. With complete protein deprivation there was no developmental increase in catecholamine. A slight increase in serotonin and a marked increase in 5-hydroxyindole acetic acid occurred during late pregnancy irrespective of the maternal diet. At term the levels of norepinephrine and dopamine and the tyrosine hydroxylase activity in the forebrain, cerebellum and brain stem of the fetuses in the group on a 0% casein diet were significantly less than those in the groups on 20 and 6% casein diets. The free tyrosine concentrations (.mu.mol/g) in the brain of fetuses in the groups on 20, 6 and 0% casein diets were 0.701, 0.213 and 0.661, respectively. The low catecholamine content of the brain in fetuses in the group on a 0% casein diet apparently was due to disturbance of the system for catecholamine synthesis rather than to deficiency of precursors.