Protein-energy malnutrition during gestation and lactation in rats affects growth rate, brain development and essential fatty acid metabolism.

The influence of feeding a low protein diet to rat dams during gestation and lactation on lipid metabolism in pups was studied. Wistar rats were fed 5, 10, 15 and 25% dietary protein during gestation and lactation. Pup growth was monitored until weaning, and brain weight, protein concentration, proteolipid concentration and total lipid phosphorus concentration of brain were analyzed. The levels of fatty acids in dam milk as well as in pup liver phospholipids and brain prosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine were determined. The progressive deprivation of maternal dietary protein produced a reduction in the total saturated fatty acid concentration of dam milk and an increment in the concentration of nonmetabolized linoleic acid. Pup body and brain weights as well as proteolipid, protein and total lipid phosphorus concentrations in brain were reduced in proportion to the degree of dietary protein deficiency. The products:precursor ratio of (n-6) fatty acids in liver phospholipids revealed an impairment in the elongation-desaturation pathway due to maternal protein deficiency. Both (n-6) and (n-3) polyunsaturated fatty acids within brain phosphatidylethanolamine were decreased by reduced maternal dietary protein intake, whereas only the linoleic acid-derived products were similarly affected in the corresponding phosphatidylcholine fraction. These results demonstrate the widespread and profound deleterious effects of low protein levels of maternal diet on the growth rate, brain development and fatty acid metabolism in rat pups.