Salivary Protein in Hypoproteinemic Rats

¹ Zoller Dental Clinic, Department of Pathology, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois

1. A high-sucrose plus high-protein diet was found adequate for normal growth in rats for an 8-week period, when weight loss was noted, and progressed for 2 weeks. At this time various protein manipulations were made with no improvement until commercial-stock diet was instituted at 13 weeks.

2. The high-sucrose diet with low-protein content used on Group II did not produce a period of weight loss.

3. Rats on a high-sucrose, low-protein diet for 19 weeks survived two additional weeks on the same diet free of any protein. After this 2-week period the salivary protein did not drop lower than at 5- and 12-week values.

4. Rats on a high-protein diet produce saliva containing approximately twice as much protein per milliliter as the amount reported in the literature for normal human beings.

5. Hypoproteinemic rats produce saliva containing amounts of protein comparable to normal human beings but approximately one-half the amount found in rats on a constantly high-protein diet.

6. Neither group exhibited dental caries.