Abstract
Alterations in brain tryptophan, serotonin, and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid concentrations occurred in rats as a consequence of dietary protein insufficiencies during prenatal and/or postnatal development. Rats born to dams fed normal (25% casein) or low (8% casein) protein diets starting 5 weeks prior to conception were cross-fostered at birth to dams of the opposite diet. At 21 days of age, their indoleamine metabolism was compared to that of unswitched rats of each diet group. All animals subjected to protein malnutrition during either the prenatal and/or postnatal developmental periods had similar elevations in brain tryptophan, amine, and metabolite concentrations compared to developmentally well-nourished pups. Although the three groups of animals which experienced protein deprivation displayed similar increases in brain indoleamine concentrations, this resulted from different modifications in peripheral metabolic processes controlling free plasma tryptophan availability. For both the prenatal/postnatal and postnatal only protein-deprived pups, lactational malnutrition produced increases in free tryptophan availability for brain metabolism by decreasing a major determinant of this process (the tryptophan to albumin ratio) as a result of the significant lowering of total tryptophan and albumin concentrations in plasma. Animals experiencing protein deficiencies during prepartum existence only, showed increases in free tryptophan availability due to permanent alterations in constituents (total tryptophan, albumin, and nonesterified fatty acid concentrations) affecting the competition between nonesterified fatty acids and tryptophan for binding on albumin that were not reversed by adequate postpartum nutrition. Overall, the present data demonstrate that the nutritional status with respect to the amount of dietary protein during prepartum and postpartum development has an important role in determining subsequent brain tryptophan metabolism.
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