The pulse protocol resulted in robust ectopic expression with no detectable adverse effects on pup survival.
F1 estrous cycles and fertility were unaffected, and F2 litters showed no effects on pup weight or survival.
F1 estrous cycles, breeding, fertility, and SP22 (a sperm protein biomarker of fertility) were unaffected, and F2 litters showed no effects on pup weight or viability.
After birth, growth can be affected by alterations in maternal care, milk production, or milk ejection reflexes, or even by direct effects on pup's suckling behavior or continued test material exposure through milk [ 23].
Nutritional effects on pup development were also present as trends; as pups of dams fed the fish diets had an accelerated development of physical traits, increased auditory startle reflex, and were more active in the open field compared to casein fed pups.
Although visual features within the environment would presumably have limited effect on pups until eye opening (P12 for enriched mice [26]), other sensory modalities, particularly the olfactory system, can influence neonatal development from a much younger age.
Protein malnutrition induced during gestation: Its effect on pup development and maternal behavior.
Population density and its 2 interactions with polyandry and the number of mothers per nest had no significant effect on pup survival (Table 2).
PCB153 was analysed in abdominal fat in week 16 to elucidate if maternal diet during gestation and lactation had an effect on pup metabolism and lasting body burdens of PCB153.
Although litters from communal nests were found when they were older than litters from solitary nests (communal litters: 2.30±0.09 days [mean ± SE], solitary litters: 1.91±0.11 days; t 144 = 2.65, P = 0.009), the age at which the pups were found had no significant effect on pup survival (Table 2).
