title: A diet of somatic cell nuclear transfer cloned-cattle meat produced no toxic effects on behavioral or reproductive characteristics of F1 rats derived from dams fed on cloned-cattle meat.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The composition and nutritional value of meat and milk derived from cloned animals and their progeny has not been demonstrated to be different from normal animals, but possible food consumption risks that might arise from unidentified hazards remain. In this study, we investigated the effects of somatic cell nuclear transfer cloned-cattle meat diet on the behavioral and reproductive characteristics of F1 rats derived from dams that were also fed on cloned-cattle meat.
  
  
  RESULTS
  F1 rats were divided into five diet groups with their dams: commercial pellets (control), pellets containing 5% (N-5) and 10% (N-10) of normal-cattle meat, and diets containing 5% (C-5) and 10% (C-10) of cloned-cattle meat. In most cases, the cloned-cattle meat diet did not affect body weight and food consumption in both male and female F1 rats during 11 weeks, except for significantly higher body weight in both N-5 and N-10 (3-5 weeks, p<0.05 or p<0.01) and significantly higher food consumption in the both normal- and cloned-cattle meat groups (7-9 weeks, p<0.05 or p<0.01), as compared with the controls, respectively. We detected no signs of test substance-related toxicities on organ weights and behavioral characteristics (sensory reflex, motor function, and spatial learning and memory tests). Reproductive functions did not significantly differ among all examined rats (mating, fertility, and implantation).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These behavioral and reproductive toxicity results suggest that there are no obvious food safety concerns related to cloned-cattle meat in these parameters.
authors.affiliation: Animal Biotechnology Division, National Institute of Animal Science, RDA, Suwon, Gyeonggi, Korea.
authors.forename: Byoung-Chul
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Nam-Jin
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Gi-Sun
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Im
authors.forename: Hwan-Hoo
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Seong
authors.forename: Jin-Ki
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Jong-Koo
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.forename: Seongsoo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hwang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000187:drug effects*; D001835:Body Weight / Q000187:drug effects; D002417:Cattle; D019976:Cloning, Organism; D003433:Crosses, Genetic; D004032:Diet; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000187:drug effects*; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D018782:Maze Learning; D008460:Meat / Q000633:toxicity*; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000187:drug effects; D053652:Nuclear Transfer Techniques; D009929:Organ Size / Q000187:drug effects; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012018:Reflex / Q000187:drug effects; D012098:Reproduction / Q000187:drug effects*