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Long-term effects of a neonatal low-protein diet in rats on the number of macrophages in culture and the expression/production of fusion proteins

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Abstract

Aim

To investigate the effects of a neonatal low-protein diet on the number of macrophages in culture and the expression/production of proteins that regulate macrophage fusion in young and adult rats.

Methods

Male Wistar rats (n = 18) were suckled by mothers fed diets containing 17 % protein (controls, C) or 8 % protein (undernourished, UN). All rats were fed a normal protein diet after weaning. Bronchoalveolar lavage was collected from 42-, 60- and 90-day-old rats. Alveolar macrophages were cultured for 4 days to assess the number of cells and the expression of cadherins, key proteins involved in macrophage fusion, by western blotting. IL-4 and IFN-γ levels in culture supernatants were measured by ELISA.

Results

Offspring from mothers fed a low-protein diet showed a lower body weight gain. The number of cells in cultured macrophages from UN was reduced at 42 and 60 days and increased at 90 days. IL-4 production was increased in the supernatants from UN group at 60 days but did not affect the expression of cadherins. IFN-γ production was increased in the supernatants from UN group at 42 and 60 days and reduced at 90 days.

Conclusions

This study thus demonstrated that dietary restriction during lactation altered the number of alveolar macrophages in culture and the production of fusion proteins of offspring aged 42, 60 or 90 days but did not modify the expression of adhesion molecules important for the fusion of these cells.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank CAPES–COFECUB (grant 584/07) and the National Council for Science and Technology (CNPq), Brazil, for their financial support.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Tropical Medicine, Federal University of Pernambuco, Recife, Brazil

    Juliana Félix de Melo, Thacianna Barreto da Costa & Célia M. M. B. de Castro

  2. Aggeu Magalhães Research Center, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Campus UFPE, Recife, Brazil

    Tamara D. da Costa Lima

  3. Keizo Asami Laboratory of Immunopathology, Federal University of Pernambuco, Av. Prof. Moraes Rego, 1235, Cidade Universitária, Recife, Pernambuco, 50670-901, Brazil

    Juliana Félix de Melo, Thacianna Barreto da Costa, Maria E. C. Chaves & Célia M. M. B. de Castro

  4. UMR CNRS 6600, Université de Technologie de Compiègne, Compiègne, France

    Juliana Félix de Melo, Muriel Vayssade & Marie-Danielle Nagel

Authors
  1. Juliana Félix de Melo
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  2. Thacianna Barreto da Costa
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  3. Tamara D. da Costa Lima
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  4. Maria E. C. Chaves
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  7. Célia M. M. B. de Castro
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Correspondence to Juliana Félix de Melo.

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de Melo, J.F., da Costa, T.B., da Costa Lima, T.D. et al. Long-term effects of a neonatal low-protein diet in rats on the number of macrophages in culture and the expression/production of fusion proteins. Eur J Nutr 52, 1475–1482 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00394-012-0453-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00394-012-0453-y

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