Influence of prenatal protein malnutrition and low doses caffeine administration on pregnancy outcome and on growth and development of albino rat fetuses

The purpose of this study was to investigate the independent and combined effects of prenatal protein malnutrition and caffeine administration on the outcome of pregnancy and on the growth and development of the 20-day albino rat fetuses. Twenty-four pregnant albino rats were divided equally into 4 groups; control group [20% protein], caffeine group [20% protein + caffeine], protein malnourished group [6% protein] and combined group [6% protein + caffeine]. Protein malnutrition started from the first day of gestation, while low dose caffeine [25 mg/kg BW, IG] was given daily from day 6-12 of gestation. Fetuses were collected by caesarian section at the 20th day of gestation. External examination was done before and after their fixation in Bouin's solution. Internal examination was done using Wilson's hand razor blade technique. The results revealed that prenatal protein malnutrition alone increased pre-implantation loss, decreased placental weight, delayed growth of the fetuses leading to intra uterine growth retardation [IUGR] as revealed from the reduction in fetal weight, crown rump length, head length and biparietal diameter. It also led to high incidence of internal hematomas in the fetuses. These findings became more pronounced in the fetuses of the combined group that showed also some abnormal findings like loss of the wrinkled skin, mild micrognathia, presence of small cranial subcutaneous hematomas and kinky tail. However, low doses caffeine administration in the caffeine group produced mild suppressive effects on fetal growth and reduction in placental weight

Skeletal ossification of 20-day albino rat fetuses under the influence of maternal protein malnutrition and low doses caffeine administration during pregnancy

The purpose of the present work was to study skeletal ossification of the 20-day albino rat fetus under the influence of maternal protein malnutrition and the administration of low subtoxic doses of caffeine which are known to produce minimal effects on the fetus. Twenty-four pregnant albino rats were divided equally into 4 groups; control group [20% protein], caffeine group [20% protein + caffeine], protein malnourished group [6% protein] and combined group [6% protein + caffeine]. Maternal protein malnutrition started from the first day of gestation, while low dose caffeine [25 mg/kg BW, IG] was given daily to the mothers from day 6-12 of gestation. Fetuses were collected by caesarian section at the 20th day of gestation. Bones were stained by alizarin red using Dawson's then ossification was assessed. The results revealed that low doses of caffeine administration have mild effects on ossification of fetal bones, while maternal protein malnutrition delayed ossification markedly. The combination of caffeine and protein malnutrition increased the delaying of ossification in the combined of caffeine and protein malnutrition increased the delaying of ossification in the combined group as compared to all other studied group. A significant delay in ossification was especially noticed in sternum, cervical and sacral vertebrae, pubis and metacarpal bones of the fetuses of the combined group as compared to the caffeine group which indicates that caffeine has a synergistic role to protein malnutrition in the combined group