PRELIMINARY STUDY OF TIME-DEPENDENT INFLUENCE OF MATERNAL NUTRITION WITH ADDITION OF β-HYDROXY- β -METHYLBUTYRATE ON THE BODY WEIGHT AND SELECTED ORGANS WEIGHT IN THE NEW-BORN SPINY MICE (ACOMYS CAHIRINUS) OFFSPRING

摘要

Interferences into maternal nutrient are used in studies related to prenatal programming – the permanent changes in homeostasis of regulatory physiological mechanisms. In present study, the effect of HMB (β-hydroxy-β-methylbutyrate) maternal administration on body composition in newborn offspring of spiny mouse (Acomys cahirinus ) was studied. The spiny mice were randomized into control (fed with a standard diet) and two experimental sub-groups additionally supplemented with HMB – 0.2 mg/kg of body weight per day in accordance with the time of HMB administration during gestation: period I lasting from the 13~(th) to the 26~(th) day of the gestation and period II lasting from day 26 to day 39 of gestation (lasting generally 39–40 days). Newborn spiny mice from the control group, the HMB I and HMB II groups were weighted and euthanized, and their organ weights were recorded. Maternal HMB-treatment did not significantly influence the body weight of newborns, although the offspring delivered by dams administered with HMB during middle gestation were significantly smaller compared to newborns delivered by dams treated with HMB during the last period of gestation. Lung and spleen weights were increased in the offspring delivered by HMB-treated dams irrespective of the period of administration. The weights of liver, kidneys and heart in the offspring delivered by HMB-treated dams in middle gestation were increased compared to the control group. ???This study showed a time-dependent maternal influence of HMB supplementation on the development of kidneys and liver. The increase in the weight of basal vital organs of newborn offspring in spiny mouse was not proportional to their body size.