Observations on maternal dietary fat intake and fetal pulmonary maturation in rats.
Pregnant rats were maintained on one of the following dietary regimes: (1) low fat through gestation; (2) low fat to gestational age 15, then high fat until term; or (3) high fat throughout gestation. Fetal pulmonary maturation (as measured by the lung content of acetone-precipitable lecithin) was accelerated in rats on the high-fat diet, was intermediate in the group on low fat later switched to high fat and was retarded in rats on the low-fat diet. We feel that these data, as well as previous reports from our laboratory, justify additional experiments on human subjects.
D000818:Animals; D004041:Dietary Fats / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D005260:Female; D005325:Fetal Organ Maturity; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008168:Lung / Q000196:embryology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D051381:Rats; D012127:Respiratory Distress Syndrome, Newborn / Q000517:prevention & control
D004041:Dietary Fats