title: Low-Salt Intake during Mating or Gestation in Rats Is Associated with Low Birth and Survival Rates of Babies.
abstract: We investigated the influence of maternal salt restriction during mating or gestation on birth rate and offspring growth in Dahl salt-sensitive rats (DS). DS were divided into 5 groups: DS fed a low-salt (0.3% NaCl, w/w) (DS-low) or high-salt (4% NaCl, w/w) diet (DS-high) during mating and DS-high or DS-low during gestation, and DS fed regular chow (0.75% NaCl, w/w) (DS-regular) throughout mating and gestation. During the unspecified periods, the rats were given regular chow. DS-low during mating delivered fewer infants than high-salt mothers (P < 0.05). The birth rate on regular chow was 87%. Six out of 11 DS-low rats during pregnancy produced pups while the rats fed a high-salt diet all delivered pups (P < 0.025). The pup survival rate was 67% for high-salt mothers during mating and 54% for mothers on a low-salt diet. The pup survival rate was 95% for mothers on a high-salt diet during pregnancy and 64% for mothers on a low-salt diet (P < 0.0001). Seven out of 8 DS-regular rats during mating delivered 59 neonates. However, 66% of the neonates survived. A low-salt diet during mating or pregnancy lowers birth rate and the neonates from low-salt mothers during pregnancy were more likely to die than those from high-salt mothers.
authors.affiliation: Division of Clinical Nutrition, Faculty of Home Economics, Kyoritsu Women's University, 2-2-1 Hitotsubashi, Chiyoda, Tokyo 101-8437, Japan.
authors.forename: Ranna
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Chou
authors.affiliation: Division of Clinical Nutrition, Faculty of Home Economics, Kyoritsu Women's University, 2-2-1 Hitotsubashi, Chiyoda, Tokyo 101-8437, Japan.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hara
authors.affiliation: Division of Clinical Nutrition, Faculty of Home Economics, Kyoritsu Women's University, 2-2-1 Hitotsubashi, Chiyoda, Tokyo 101-8437, Japan.
authors.forename: DongDong
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Du
authors.affiliation: Division of Clinical Nutrition, Faculty of Home Economics, Kyoritsu Women's University, 2-2-1 Hitotsubashi, Chiyoda, Tokyo 101-8437, Japan.
authors.forename: Namiko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Shimizu
authors.affiliation: Division of Clinical Nutrition, Faculty of Home Economics, Kyoritsu Women's University, 2-2-1 Hitotsubashi, Chiyoda, Tokyo 101-8437, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroe
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sakuyama
authors.affiliation: Division of Clinical Nutrition, Faculty of Home Economics, Kyoritsu Women's University, 2-2-1 Hitotsubashi, Chiyoda, Tokyo 101-8437, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshio
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Uehara