Postnatal stimulation: the effects on cholinergic enzyme activity in undernourished rats

Rats were malnourished during the first 3 wk of life by feeding their lactating dams a low protein diet. Half of both control-fed and malnourished groups were "handled" daily during the suckling period. After 4 wk of postweaning dietary rehabilitation and individual caging they were killed and brain minus cerebellum taken for choline-acetyltransferase (ChAc) and acetylcholinesterase (AChE) determination on neuronal-rice or glial-rich cell fractions. Early postnatal malnutrition resulted in a decrease in ChAc activity in the neuronal-rich cell fraction of the non-handled rats, but no change in ChAc activity of this cell fraction was observed from rats that had been handled. This finding parallels the prior observation that malnutrition induces behavioral changes that continue after nutritional rehabilitation, but these behavioral abnormalities are minimized or abolished by handling.