Biochemical alteration of the skin in newborn rats by feeding liquid protein diet during early pregnancy

Abstract

Pregnant rats were fed a 20% LPD from day 1 to day 10 of pregnancy; on day 10, the diet was changed to a 20% casein and the animals were fed this diet until delivery. A pair-fed control group was fed the 20% casein diet throughout pregnancy. The body weights of the LPD group stayed constant for the first 10 days. When the casein diet was begun at day 10, however, body weight increased within 24 hours. The body weight in the LPD group then increased continuously. In contrast, the body weight of the pair-fed control group increased throughout pregnancy. On delivery, newborns and their mothers were killed and their skins were removed. Compared with the controls, the contents of both type III collagen and α 1 trimer were increased in the newborn of the LPD-fed mothers; however, total collagen content of the LPD newborn was less. In contrast, the mothers' skins did not differ between the groups in any measurements determined. The data suggest that the quality of the maternal protein source in the diet influences the content and nature of skin collagen in the growing fetus, whereas the mother's skin is less affected by the nutritional stress during pregnancy.