Effect of riboflavin deficiency on reproductive performance and on biochemical indices of riboflavin status in the rat.

Young female rats were made riboflavin-deficient by feeding a purified diet containing casein (210 g/kg). This basal diet provided 0.40 mg riboflavin/kg diet, to which was added additional riboflavin at 0, 0.12 or 0.25 mg/kg diet. Control animals received the same diet with 15 mg added riboflavin/kg. The diets were given for 4 weeks before mating, then throughout pregnancy and for 15 d of lactation. With no added riboflavin in the diet, reproduction was severely impaired and fetal resorption was usually observed. With 0.12 mg added riboflavin/kg diet, however, reproduction was usually successful, and the growth of dams and pups was only marginally depressed in comparison with pair-fed controls optimally supplied with riboflavin. The activation coefficient (stimulated:basal activity) of erythrocyte glutathione reductase (NAD(P)H) (EC 1.6.4.2) was high, and the concentration of riboflavin in the liver was correspondingly low in the dams receiving diets containing 0.12 or 0.25 mg added riboflavin/kg and in their sucking pups at 15 d post partum. Riboflavin levels in the milk from both groups of dams were about eightfold lower than in controls. There was little evidence that the sucking pups could maintain their riboflavin level at the expense of that in the maternal tissues.