The relationship between nutritional adequacy and brain myelin accumulation: a comparison of varying degrees of well fed and undernourished rats.
Rats undernourished through 17 days of age to produce mild weight lag (less than 20%) had either the same amount, or slightly more myelin than well fed controls. Schedules of undernourishment producing approximately 30, 40 and 50% body weight lags produced corresponding rank-ordered myelin deficits of 25, 55 and 60%, respectively. Brain growth was relatively spared in all cases, never exceeding a deficit of 10%. Absolute myelin deficits did not recover following nutritional rehabilitation, although myelin continued to increase in both normal and all test populations.
D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn / Q000254:growth & development*; D001835:Body Weight; D001921:Brain / Q000254:growth & development*; D009186:Myelin Sheath / Q000502:physiology*; D009929:Organ Size; D011502:Protein-Energy Malnutrition / Q000503:physiopathology*; D051381:Rats