[Retardation of growth and development of rats induced by inhibition of protein synthesis at early postnatal ontogenesis].

Treatment of rats with aurantine for 7-30 days reduces the growth and development of animals, and especially of skeletal muscles. Low relative weight of muscles in aurantine-treated animals was accompanied by low resting and action membrane potentials. Incorporation of labelled uridine and lysine into muscles, heart, brain and liver was decreased. Retardation in the growth and development of skeletal muscles resulted into unfavourable shift of the ratio body weight/surface and led to prevalence of catabolic processes over anabolic ones (increased oxygen consumption, heart and respiration rate in experimental animals). These changes are probably related not only to the inhibition of protein synthesis, but to disturbance of regulatory mechanisms, which reveals itself in an increased norepinephrine content of the brain stem and in the increased cholinesterase activity in cardiac pacemaker.