[Effect of diet with different protein content on rats during gestation: repercussion on pregnancy development and...

Pregnant rats, Wistar strain, were treated from day 11 of gestation with synthetic diets containing different amounts of protein. The Group of rats fed a severely deficient protein diet (4% of casein, 2% of lactalbumin) showed reduced hematocrit, hemoglobin, total protein and an expressive increase of gamma globulins compared with rats treated with normal or elevated protein levels. Weight gain during pregnancy was higher for rats which received a larger amount of protein; on the contrary those that were subjected to malnutrition had no weight gain and bore prematurely with high percent of foetal mortality.