Refeeding after various times of ingestion of a low protein diet: effects on food intake and body weight in rats.
Rats born of protein-deprived mothers were fed on a low protein (LP) diet (5% casein) from weaning. In each time sequence (0, 1, 3, 5, 8 and 16 weeks after weaning), 12 of them were refed on an isocaloric well-balanced diet (18% casein) for 2 weeks. Food intake, body and adipose tissue weights and protein efficiency ratio (PER) were measured in the refed rats as well as in 12 LP rats. At weaning and after one week, refed (RF) rats immediately increased their food intake. This increase was delayed at weeks 3, 5 and 8 occurred during the second week of refeeding only. At week 16, there was a significant decrease during the first week when compared with LP rats. Body weight increased regularly during each refeeding period without any significant augmentation of the proportion of adipose tissue. During all the experiment (except at week 16), PER in the RF group remained high (about 3 g body weight/g protein) during the first week of refeeding, and fell to 2.0-2.5 g/g during the second week. It was particularly significantly greater than that of the LP rats between week 3 and 5 where an important decrease was observed in this group (1.99 +/- 0.36 vs. 3.23 +/- 0.58 g body weight/g protein during the 1-3 weeks period). It appeared therefore that protein restriction during gestation and lactation in dams had no effect on the mechanisms controlling food intake of their offspring at weaning.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
INSERM U.308 Unité de Recherches sur les Mécanismes de Régulation du Comportement Alimentaire, Nancy, France.
B
B
Beck
J M
JM
Dollet
J P
JP
Max
D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology; D001835:Body Weight; D004044:Dietary Proteins / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000378:metabolism; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D009748:Nutrition Disorders / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology*; D009929:Organ Size; D011247:Pregnancy; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D013997:Time Factors
D004044:Dietary Proteins