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

ABSTRACT

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