Influence of  maternal dietary fat upon rat pups.
Mother rats were fed purified rations containing different fats during gestation and lactation and at 1 day after parturition. Litter sizes were reduced to 2 male and 2 female pups. The behavior and the brain chemical composition of these selected pups were compared with similarly selected pups from dams fed a commercial ration. All offspring were fed a commercial ration after weaning. Pups from dams fed 20% safflower oil were similar to controls. Feeding 20% cocoa butter to dams resulted in pups with reduced exploratory activity and with a rapid learning performance in a T-maze, employing the aversive stimulation of an electrical shock. Feeding dams a fat-free ration produced pups which had reduced rates of growth, small brains at 2 months of age, and low brain concentrations of cholesterol, DNA, and RNA.
D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D001362:Avoidance Learning; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D001835:Body Weight; D001923:Brain Chemistry; D002099:Cacao; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000032:analysis; D004247:DNA / Q000032:analysis; D004041:Dietary Fats / Q000378:metabolism*; D004924:Escape Reaction; D005106:Exploratory Behavior; D005260:Female; D006120:Grooming; D006197:Hair / Q000254:growth & development; D007774:Lactation; D008055:Lipids / Q000032:analysis; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D012313:RNA / Q000032:analysis; D051381:Rats / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism*; D012450:Safflower Oil / Q000378:metabolism; D014886:Weaning
D004041:Dietary Fats; D008055:Lipids; D012313:RNA; D012450:Safflower Oil; D004247:DNA; D002784:Cholesterol