Effects of sunflower seed supplements on reproduction and growth of RCS rats with hereditary retinal dystrophy.

Both control and dystrophic pink-eyed RCS rats reproduced poorly when they were fed a standard laboratory rodent diet and were housed in conventional animal rooms unshielded from pathogenic influences. More prolific reproduction and improved growth of young were obtained with a commercial unsterilized closed formula pelleted rodent ration, supplemented with 25% sunflower seed kernels. The sunflower kernels contained a high concentration of vitamin E and 47% fat which was mostly unsaturated. Linoleic acid was 75% of the unsaturated fatty acids. The kernels also contained a higher concentration of selenium (0.8 mg/kg) than standard rodent diets. Effective absorption of the high vitamin E of the diet was shown by analyses of blood plasma of 50-day-old dystrophic and control rats, in which the alpha-tocopherol level was three-fold that in animals fed standard laboratory rodent diet. Dams fed the diet had calmer temperaments and improved lactation. Litters of 8-13 pups were produced, and the pups grew rapidly to weaning with 95% survival of the control strains and 75% survival of the dystrophic strain. Progeny fed the diet for 8-10 months after weaning did not manifest cataracts, which occurred in 23% of the pink-eyed dystrophic animals fed standard rodent diets.