Marginal Protein Deficiency During the Reproductive Cycle in Rats: Influence on Body Weight and Development of Skulls and Teeth of Offspring

¹ Harvard School of Dental Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts 02115

Marginal protein deficiency during the reproductive cycle in female rats resulted in reduced growth potential in the skulls of the offspring. As young adults, after the feeding of adequate protein post-weaning, the offspring of protein-depleted females had smaller skulls than those rats whose mothers had received adequate protein during the reproductive cycle.