Long-term effects of litter size in early postnatal period on metabolism, aging and life span in rats.
Some indices of aging, metabolism and life span were studied in the male Wistar rats, raised during the suckling period (up to 21 days) in nest of 8-10 pups (control) and 2 pups/dam (experiment). The milk intake of the rat pups was controlled by adjusting litter size at birth. After weaning, the rats of both groups each received the same standard diet ad libitum. Postnatal overfed rats had higher values of body weight, epididymal fat pads and lipid metabolism (total cholesterol, triglycerides, etc.) throughout their whole life. Rats from small nests had increased levels of insulin, thyroxine and decreased proteinase activity of hepatic lysosomes. Overfeeding in the early postnatal period was found to influence the dynamics of mortality and survival rates. It may be concluded that the modification of nutrition in the early period of life may influence an organism's aging process and the dynamics of age-related changes in metabolism and its regulation during an animal's life.
Frolkis
V V
VV
Institute of Gerontology, Acadamy of Medical Science of Ukraine, Vyshgorodskaya St. 67, 254 114 Kiev, Ukraine.
Grigorov
Y G
YG
Pisarchuk
K L
KL