The effects of maternal hyperphenylalaninemia on learning in mature rats.
Pregnant rats were given a diet supplemented with 0.5% alpha-methyl-phenylalanine and 3% phenylalanine from the 12th day of gestation to term. Compared to unsupplemented controls, maternal serum phenylalanine was elevated 8-10-fold. Experimental litters did not differ from controls in number of offspring, birth weight, or subsequent growth on an unsupplemented diet. At 8 weeks of age, animals were tested for latent learning on a 4-arm maze, and at 10 weeks, they were tested for observational learning with littermates in a food preference paradigm. In both tests, experimental animals did learn, but significantly less than controls. The data suggest that maternal hyperphenylalaninemia, induced as a model for the inborn error, phenylketonuria, can lead to learning deficits later in the lives of offspring.
Sadava
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Joint Science Department, Claremont Colleges, California 91711.
Sutcliffe
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D000818:Animals; D001724:Birth Weight; D005260:Female; D007858:Learning / Q000187:drug effects*; D007859:Learning Disabilities / Q000139:chemically induced*; D008431:Maternal-Fetal Exchange; D010649:Phenylalanine / Q000097:blood / Q000494:pharmacology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D051381:Rats
D010649:Phenylalanine