[Characteristics of the histogenesis of the cerebral cortex in mice with protein-energy deficiency during the prenatal period of body development]

Abstract

Autoradiographic and morphometric studies of the embryonal endbrain anlage of mice whose mothers were kept on the low-protein diet since the first day of pregnancy point to the retardation of the embryonal cerebral cortex histogenesis under the influence of alimentary deficiency. The structure of the endbrain anlage in 17-day-old embryos, that developed under the conditions of malnutrition, correlated with the earlier stages of embryogenesis in terms of the degree of maturity. The retardation of the neocortex development is caused by a fall in the rate of ventricular cell proliferation because of a 21% increase in the duration of the mitotic cycle. Analysis of the distribution pattern of intensely labeled neuronal nuclei in the neocortex of 20-day-old mice whose mothers were injected with 3H-thymidine on days 13 and 17 of pregnancy indicates that under the conditions of prenatal malnutrition the neurons in the appropriate layers of the brain cortex are formed at the later times as compared to normal.