Effect of epidermal growth factor and artificial feeding in suckling rats.

To evaluate the effects of epidermal growth factor (EGF) in dietary milk, a new method of delivering an artificial (EGF-deficient) formula was developed using 42 rat pups, 1-14 days of age. In a second study the effect of EGF was evaluated in suckling rats from 3-11 days of age: group 1, mother-fed; group 2, mother-fed plus daily injections of EGF (0.1 micrograms/g body weight); group 3, artificial milk fed with added EGF (62 ng/ml); and group 4, artificial milk fed without EGF. Each group consists of nine rats. In group 2 there was premature eye opening and tooth eruption and a significant reduction in body weight and weight of liver, kidney, thyroid, and thymus but an increase in length of the intestine and weights of stomach, pancreas, lung, and adrenal (p less than 0.04), when compared to group 1. Both groups 3 and 4 showed premature tooth eruption and eye opening, and their body weights and most organ weights were similar to group 2; exceptions were a smaller stomach, thyroid, thymus, lung, and adrenal, which were similar to those in group 1. In addition, intestinal length in groups 3 and 4 were similar to the mother-fed EGF-treated pups (group 2). There was no difference in intestinal length between the artificially fed pups, whether or not they received oral EGF. These findings demonstrate a new and effective technique of artificial feeding and suggest that the increase in intestinal length caused by injections of EGF (0.1 micrograms/g body weight) can also be induced by feeding an artificial milk with or without physiologic levels of EGF.