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Changes in the food intake and body weight of protein-malnourished rats infected with Nippostrongylus brasiliensis (Nematoda)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2009

D. W. T. Crompton ,
D. E. Walters  and
Susan Arnold
D. W. T. Crompton
Affiliation:
The Molteno Institute, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EE
D. E. Walters
Affiliation:
A.R.C Statistics Group, Department of Applied Biology, University of Cambridge, Pembroke Street, Cambridge CB2 3DX
Susan Arnold
Affiliation:
The Molteno Institute, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EE
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Summary

The daily food intake and related changes in body weight were measured in young rats which were fed on synthetic diets containing 1% (3 experiments), 2% (4 experiments) and 20% (1 experiment) casein respectively. Some rats were infected with Nippostrongylus brasiliensis and allowed to feed ad libitum, some remained uninfected and were allowed to feed ad libitum while others, which were matched by initial weight with rats from the infected group, remained uninfected and were given only the same amount of food as that consumed during the previous 24 h by their infected partners. No significant differences were detected between the rats before the start of the infection. Thereafter, the food intake of the infected undernourished rats was usually found to be significantly lower and the loss of body weight significantly greater than those of the uninfected rats. In infection periods of relatively long duration, the pair-fed uninfected rats did not lose as much weight as their infected partners even though their food intake (1% and 2% casein) was the same. Although the food intake, and consequently the weight, of infected rats fed on the diet containing 20% casein were significantly less than in their uninfected partners, no significant differences were observed between the weights of the infected and pair-fed rats fed on this diet.

Type
Research Article
Information
Parasitology , Volume 82 , Issue 1 , February 1981 , pp. 23 - 38
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1981

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