Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-gb8f7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T21:02:56.127Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Protein utilization, growth and survival in essential-fatty-acid-deficient rats

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 March 2007

Christiani Jeyakumar Henry ,
Amal Ghusain-Choueiri  and
Philip R. Payne
Christiani Jeyakumar Henry
Affiliation:
School of Biological and Molecular Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Gipsy Lane, Oxford OX3 OBP
Amal Ghusain-Choueiri
Affiliation:
School of Biological and Molecular Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Gipsy Lane, Oxford OX3 OBP
Philip R. Payne
Affiliation:
Human Nutrition Unit, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, 2 Taviton Street, London WClH OBT
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

The relationship between essential fatty acids (EFA) deficiency and the utilization of dietary protein, growth rate and survival of offspring was investigated in rats during development and reproduction. EFA deficiency was induced by feeding a 200 g casein/kg-based diet containing 70 g hydrogenated coconut oil (HCO)/lkg as the only source of fat. The conversion efficiency of dietary protein was assessed as net protein utilization (NPU), using a 10 d comparative carcass technique. Consumption of the deficient diet during the 10 d assay period induced biochemical changes characteristic of mild EFA deficiency in humans (triene:tetraene 0·27 (SD 0·04) compared with 0·026 (SD 0·004) for wn-deficient controls), but there were no significant changes in growth rate or protein utilization. These variables were also unchanged when the deficient diet was fed for an additional 7 d before the assay, although triene: tetraene increased to 0.8 (SD 0·02). Feeding the deficient diet for 63 d before assay produced severe EFA deficiency (triene:tetraene 1.4 (SD 0·3) v. 0·036 (SD 0·005) for controls), a fall in growth rate (25% during assay period), and NPU (31.5 (SD 0·63) v. 39.0 (SD 0·93) for controls). These severely-EFA-deficient animals had a 30% higher fasting-resting rate of energy metabolism than that of age-matched controls. However, there was no change in the rate of endogenous N loss. Voluntary energy consumption was increased in animals fed on deficient diets, either with 200 g protein/kg, or protein free. The reduced efficiency of protein utilization could be entirely accounted for by the restricted amount of energy available for growth and protein deposition. Consumption of an EFA-deficient diet during pregnancy and lactation resulted in high mortality (11% survival rate at weaning compared with 79% for controls) and retarded growth in the preweaning offspring. It is concluded that animals are particularly sensitive to EFA deficiency during reproduction and pre- and post-natal stages of development. However, after weaning only severe EFA deficiency retarded growth, primarily through changes in energy balance.

Keywords

Essential fatty acids deficiencyProtein utilizationMetabolic ratePregnancy and lactation
Type
Protein metabolism
Information
British Journal of Nutrition , Volume 75 , Issue 2 , February 1996 , pp. 237 - 248
Copyright
Copyright © The Nutrition Society 1996

References

REFERENCES

Alling, C., Bruce, A., Karlsson, I. & Svennerholm, L. (1974). The effect of different dietary levels of essential fatty acids on growth in the rat. Nutrition and Metabolism 16, 38–50.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Barta-Bedo, M. (1963). The effect of different fats upon the protein sparing mechanism. Proceedings of the VIth International Congress of Nutrition (Edinburgh), p. 495. Edinburgh: E. Livingsone.Google Scholar
Beaton, G. H. (1989). Small but healthy? Are we asking the right question? Human Organisation 48, 31–37.Google Scholar
Bradstreet, R. (1965). The Kjeldahl Methodfor Organic Nitrogen. New York and London: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Burr, G. O. & Burr, M. M. (1930). On the nature and role of the fatty acids essential in nutrition. Journal of Biological Chemistry 86, 587–621.Google Scholar
Calloway, D. H. & Spector, H. (1955). Nitrogen utilisation during caloric restriction. The effect of dietary fat content. Journal of Nutrition 56, 533–541.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
De Tomas, M. E., Mercuri, O. & Serres, C. (1983). Effect of cross-fostering rats at birth on the normal supply of essential fatty acids during protein deficiency. Journal of Nutrition 113, 314–19.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dvorak, B. & Stepankova, R. (1992). Effects of dietary essential fatty acid deficiency on development of the ratGoogle ScholarPubMed
Food and Agriculture Organization/World Health Organization Expert Committee (1977). The role of the dietary fats and oils in human nutrition. FA0 Technical Paper Series Report no 3. Rome: FAO.Google Scholar
Folch, J., Lees, M. & Sloane-Stanley, G. H. (1957). A simple method for the isolation and purification of total lipids from animal tissue. Journal of Biological Chemistry 226, 497–509.Google Scholar
Hansen, A. E., Wiese, H. F., Boelsche, A. N., Haggard, M. E., Adam, D. J. D. & Davis, H. (1963). Role of linoleic acid in infant nutrition. Paediatrics 31, 171–192.Google Scholar
Hansen|H. S. & Jensen, B. (1985). Essential function of linoleic acid esterified in acylglucosylceramide and acylceramide in maintaining the epidermal water permeability barrier. Evidence from feeding studies with oleate, linoleate, arachidonate, columbinate and alpha-linolenate. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta 834, 357–363.Google Scholar
Holman|R. T. (1960). The ratio of trienoic:tetraenoic acids in tissue lipids as a measure of essential fatty acid requirement. Journal of Nutrition 70, 405–410.Google Scholar
Holman, R. T. (1968). Essential fatty acid deficiency. In Progress in the Chemistry of Fats and other Lipids, pp. 279–348. New York: Pergamon Press.Google Scholar
Holman, R. T., Johnson, S. B., Mercuri, C., Itarte, H. J., Rodrigo, M. A. & De Tomas, M. E. (1981). Essential fatty acid deficiency in malnourished children. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 34, 153–1539.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Koletzko, B. & Braun, M. (1991). Arachidonic acid and early human growth: is there a relation? Annals of Nutrition and Metabolism 35, 128–131.Google Scholar
Lee|E. J., Simmer, K. & Gibson, R. A. (1993). Essential fatty acid deficiency in parenterally fed preterm infants. Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health 29, 51–55.Google Scholar
Lutter, C. K., Mora, J. O., Habicht, J. P., Rasmussen, K. M., Robson, D. S. & Herrera, M. G. (1990). Age specific responsiveness of weight and length to nutritional supplementation. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 51, 359–364.Google Scholar
Menon, N. K., Moore, C. & Dhopeshwarkar, G. A. (1981). Effect of essential fatty acid deficiency on maternal, placental, and fetal rat tissue. Journal of Nutrition 111, 1602–1609.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miller, D. S. (1965). A procedure for determination of NPU using rats body N technique. Evaluation of Protein Quality. NRC Publication no. 1100. Washington, DC: National Research Council/National Academy of Science.Google Scholar
Miller, D. S. & Bender, A. E. (1955). The determination of the net utilisation of proteins by a shortened method. British Journal of Nutrition 9, 382–388.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Miller, D. S. & Payne, P. R. (1961 a). Problems in the prediction of protein values of diets. British Journal of Nutrition 15, 11–19.Google Scholar
Miller, D. S. & Payne, P. R. (1961 b). Problems in the prediction of protein values of diets: caloric restriction. Journal of Nutrition 75, 225–230.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Miller, D. S. & Payne, P. R. (1963). A theory of protein metabolism. Journal of Theoretical Biology 5, 1–14.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Naismith, D. J. (1962). The importance of dietary fat for the utilisation of protein in the very young. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society 21, 8.Google Scholar
Naismith, D. J. (1973). Kwashiorkor in western Nigeria. A study of traditional weaning foods, with particular reference to energy and linoleic acid. British Journal of Nutrition 30, 567–576.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Panos, T. C., Finerty, J. C., Klein, G. F. & Wall, R. L. (1958). Metabolic studies in fat deficiency. In Essential Fatty Acids, p. 205 [Sinclair, H. M. editor]. London: Butterworths.Google Scholar
Parlanti, I. A. & Orellana, L. C. (1985). The influence of an essential fatty acid deficient-diet on the reproductive performance of female rats. Reproductive Nutrition and Development 25, 851–860.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Payne, P. R. & Jacob, M. (1965). Effect of environmental temperature on utilisation of dietary protein by the growing rat. Journal of Nutrition 87, 221–227.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Phinney, S. D., Clarke, S. D., Odin, R. S., Moldawer, L. L., Blackburn, G. L. & Bistrian, B. R. (1993). Thermogenesis secondary to transdermal water loss causes growth retardation in essential fatty acid-deficient rats. Metabolism 42, 1022–1026.Google Scholar
Quakenbush, F. W., Kummerow, F. A. & Steenbock, H. (1942). The effectiveness of linoleic, arachidonic and linolenic acids in reproduction and lactation. Journal of Nutrition 24, 213–224.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rafael, J., Patzelt, J. & Elmadfa, I. (1988). Effect of dietary linoleic acid and essential fatty acid deficiency on resting metabolism, nonshivering thermogenesis and brown adipose tissue in the rat. Journal of Nutrition 118, 621–632.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rafael, J., Patzelt, J., Schafer, H. & Elmadfa, I. (1984). The effect of essential fatty acid deficiency on basal respiration and function of liver mitochondria in rats. Journal of Nutrition 114, 255–262.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rivers, J. P. W. & Crawford, M. A. (1974). Maternal nutrition and the sex ratio at birth. Nature 252, 297–298.Google Scholar
Robillard, P. Y. & Christon, R. (1993). Lipid intake during pregnancy in developing countries: possible effects of essential fatty acid deficiency on fetal growth. Prostaglandins Leukotrienes and Essential Fatty Acids 48, 139–142.Google Scholar
Sinclair, A. J. & Crawford, M. A. (1973). The effect of a low-fat maternal diet on neonatal rats. Brirish Journal of Nutrition 29, 127–137.Google Scholar
Sinclair, H. M. (1952). Essential Fatty Acids and their Relation to Pyridoxine. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Stepankova, R., Dvorak, B., Sterzl, J. & Trebichavsky, I. (1990). Effects of essential fatty acids de ficiency in milk diets on the development of germ-free and conventional rats. Physiologica Bohemoslovakia 39, 135–146.Google Scholar
Trugnan, G., Thomas-Benhamou, G., Cardot, P., Rayssiguier, Y. & Bereziat, G. (1985). Short term essential fatty acid deficiency in rats. Influence of dietary carbohydrate. Lipids 20, 862–868.Google Scholar
Yazbeck, J., Goubern, M., Senault, C., Chapey, M. F. & Portet, R.. (1989). The effects of essential fatty acid deficiency on brown adipose tissue activity in rats maintained at thermal neutrality. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology 94A, 213–276.Google Scholar