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© 1993 Oxford University Press

research-article

The Effects of Feed Restriction on Reproductive Function in Sprague-Dawley Rats1

ROBERT E. CHAPIN*, DUSHYANT K. GULATI{dagger}, LETA H. BARNES{dagger} and JANET L. TEAGUE{ddagger}

*Developmental and Reproductive Toxicology Group, National Toxicology Program, NIEHS P O Box 12233, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina 27709 {dagger}Environmental Health Research and Testing 2514 Regency Road, Lexington, Kentucky 40503 {ddagger}Analytical Sciences 100 Capitola Drive, Durham, North Carolina 27713

Received February 12, 1992; accepted July 14, 1992

Although it is known that severe feed restriction (FR) and weight reduction (to 50–60% of control values) will sharply impair rat reproduction, few data exist on the effects of less severe body weight reduction. In the present studies, adult Sprague-Dawley rats were feed restricted and maintained at 90, 80, and 70% of control body weight (CBW) for up to 17 weeks. In females, this treatment had no effect on fertility or total number of implants per dam, but transiently increased the length of the estrous cycle and decreased by 20% the number of corpora lutea in the 70% CBW females. Ovary weight at necropsy was decreased only in the 70% CBW group. Liver and kidney weights varied with body weight. In males, fertility was not affected when they were mated to nonrestricted females. While prostate and seminal vesicles weight varied with body weight, testis and epididymis weights were unchanged by any degree of FR, as were the number of sperm in the cauda epididymis and the number of homogenization-resistant spermatids in the testis. The percentage motile sperm was slightly decreased at all levels of FR. These data show that the Sprague-Dawley rat is largely resistant to adverse reproductive changes caused by feed restriction to 70% CBW. These data should be of use in interpreting changes seen in toxicity studies that produce weight-reduced Sprague-Dawley rats.


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