Perinatal development of the liver in rat and spiny mouse. Its relation to altricial and precocial timing of birth.

Rat (Rattus norvegicus) and spiny mouse (Acomys cahirinus) are closely related murinoid species that mainly differ in the developmental timing of birth. A comparison between the developmental profiles of some characteristic enzymes of the liver of both species was carried out to elucidate the question to what extent are these enzymic profiles and hence the maturation of the liver related to the timing of birth? It was found that these organotypic enzymes first become detectable at the same developmental stage in both species. Likewise, the weaning phase of the enzymic profiles occurs at the same developmental time point in both species. It is argued that both the first appearance and the weaning increase in enzyme activity levels occur at endogenously programmed timepoints with only superimposed effects of hormones. In contrast, the perinatal phase of the enzymic profile is completely dependent on the developmental timing of birth and therefore appears not to be anchored to a particular developmental timepoint, but rather to be dependent on birth-associated (hormonal) adaptation. In accordance with this hypothesis it was found that the morphological development of the liver proceeded independent of the timing of birth. Furthermore, the hormonal regulation of the investigated enzymes was found to be the same in both species. Despite the more advanced state of morphological development of the liver in the spiny mouse at birth, it was found that the inducibility of organotypic gene expression by hormones in spiny mouse fetuses was as limited as in rat fetuses. This observation therefore suggests that the intra-uterine environment is responsible for the limited inducibility of enzymes before birth.