Effects of food restriction during rabbit pregnancy on fetal biometric parameters

The rabbit is an ideal animal model for the study of fetus program-ming related to maternal nutrition. Here we describe the influence ofmoderate food restriction in different gestational phases on fetusgrowth evaluated by ultrasound (US). Primiparous non lactating NewWhite Zealand does (n=20) were assigned to four groups. Controlgroup was fed a standard ration while the others received a restrictedamount of food (30% restriction) during early (0–9 days), mid (9–18 days), and late (19–28 days) pregnancy. By US scans, performed atdays 0, 4, 10, 14, 18, 22, and 26 of pregnancy, vesicle size, placentalthickness, embryo length, and biparietal diameter were measured.Data were analyzed by ANOVA followed by Bonferroni test. Foodrestriction affected vesicle size (p<0.01) and embryo length (p<0.001) depending on stage of nutritional privation duringpregnancy and day of observation. However, biometric differencesmight also be attributable to litter size (larger body length when thenumber of live born ranging from 6 to 10; p<0.01). In conclusion, theresults indicate that fetus size is sensitive to maternal nutrition but in-utero development is influenced by many factors that establishintricate reciprocal relationships.