The effect of litter size on the development of the endocrine rat pancreas

The influence of litter size on the development of the endocrine rat pancreas in the fetal period has been investigated. Rats from 3 spontaneously different litter sizes were chosen to estimate sex, body weight, food uptake, pancreatic wet weight, insulin and glucagon concentrations, plasma glucose and insulin. With increasing litter size we could observe an enhancement of the pancreatic insulin concentration whereas the glucagon content was decreased. Food uptake caused an increase of insulin and glucagon in the pancreas. The observed changes were not sex dependent. Our results show that the litter size has an obvious effect on the endocrine pancreas already in the fetal and early neonatal phase of development.