| Title | Effects of prevention of coprophagy on pregnant mice--is coprophagy beneficial on a balanced diet? | | Author(s) | Ebino KY, Yoshinaga K, Suwa T, Kuwabara Y, Takahashi KW | | Institution | Toxicology Division, Institute of Environmental Toxicology, Ibaraki, Japan. | | Source | Jikken Dobutsu 1989 Jul; 38(3):245-52. | | MeSH | Animal Feed
Animal Nutrition
Animals
Body Weight
Coprophagia
Female
Folic Acid Deficiency
Mice
Mice, Inbred ICR
Pregnancy
Pregnancy, Animal
Vitamin B 12 Deficiency
| | Abstract | The effects of prevention of coprophagy on reproductive performance were examined in ICR mice. Females were treated with restrainers in order to prevent them from ingesting their feces from day 1 through day 17 of pregnancy. The restrained animals fed a commercial diet did not show any clear adverse effects. In contrast, restrained dams fed a purified diet deficient in vitamin B12 exhibited stillbirths (14%) and abortions (7%). Restrained dams fed a diet lacking in vitamin B12 and folic acid also experienced frequent abortions (27%). In addition, six out of 14 restrained dams (43%) aborted when fed a vitamin B complex-deficient diet. Sham-restrained animals, fed the vitamin B complex deficient-diet, but able to ingest their feces trapped by smaller-mesh floors, escaped these adverse effects. Sham-restrained animals fed the commercial diet, however, showed only a slight improvement in their reproductive performance. In conclusion, coprophagy has nutritional significance as long as the diet is lacking at least B vitamins, especially vitamin B12 and folic acid, whereas it almost entirely loses its nutritional significance when the mouse has access to a balanced diet such as the one made available to the laboratory mice in the present study. | | Language | eng | | Pub Type(s) | Journal Article
| | PubMed ID | 2792207 |
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