Effect of undernutrition on the cranial growth of the rat. An intergenerational study

CESANI MF, ORDEN B, ZUCCHI M, MUÑE MC, OYHENART EE, PUCCIARELLI HM.

CELLS TISSUES ORGANS

Karger

Lugar: Basel; Año: 2003 vol. 174 p. 129 - 135

1422-6405

The cumulative effect of undernutrition on successive generations was tested. The cranial growth of three generations of undernourished rats (F1, F2, F3) was compared to that of the parental generation (P), in order to (a) measure the extent to which the growth of each facial and neurocranial functional components was retarded when animals are undernourished, and (b) determine if any cumulative effect between generations can be appreciated. The P generation was fed ad-libitum, and the undernourished ones were fed on 50% (F1) and 75% (F2 and F3) of the parental diet. Nine radiographs were taken from 20 to 100 days old. The length, width and height of the neurocranial and facial components were measured on each radiograph. Neurocranial (VNI), facial (VFI), and neurofacial (NFI) indices were calculated. Data were processed by the Kruskal Wallis and Kolmogorov-Smirnov tests. An impairment in neurocranial and facial growth was found, being the second more affected than the first in F1. At variance, neurocranium was more affected than face in F2 and F3 resulting in variations of skull shape. A cumulative effect of moderate transgenerational  undernutrition was evident and induces to further analysis on this topic.