Influence of intrauterine low protein diet on ductal morphogenesis of the rat mammary gland.

Following intrauterine low protein diet, the lumbar mammary gland of control and low protein rats were removed for further analysis via genarray on day 21 and day 28 postpartum. Virgin female Wistar rats came from Charles River. Throughout pregnancy the NP rats received 25g/d of Altromin C1000 containing 17.0% protein, while LP animals were fed 25g/d of Altromin C1003 containing 8.8% protein. At birth, litter size was reduced to 6 females in both groups, which were left to suckle for 21 days. During lactation (d1-d21) and after weaning (d21-d28) NP and LP animals were fed a standard chow and tap water ad libitum. At d21 and d28 3 dams were sacrificed under isofluran narcosis. The lumbar mammary gland (4th and 5th pair) were removed and cleared of visible lymph nodes before snap-freezing in liquid nitrogen.

本研究针对经宫内饮食干预的大鼠，于产后第21天和第28天摘取正常蛋白对照组（Normal Protein, NP）与低蛋白组（Low Protein, LP）大鼠的腰乳腺，通过基因阵列（genarray）开展后续分析。实验所用未孕雌性Wistar大鼠购自查尔斯河（Charles River）公司。整个孕期期间，NP组大鼠每日饲喂25g含17.0%蛋白质的Altromin C1000饲料，LP组大鼠每日饲喂25g含8.8%蛋白质的Altromin C1003饲料。产仔时，两组均将窝仔数调整为6只雌性幼鼠，并使其自然哺乳21天。哺乳期（第1~21天）及断奶后（第21~28天），NP与LP组大鼠均可自由采食标准饲料并饮用自来水。分别于产后第21天和第28天，每组各3只母鼠经异氟烷（isofluran）麻醉后处死，摘取其腰乳腺（第4、5对乳腺），去除可见淋巴结后置于液氮中快速冷冻。