Effect of Intermittent Fasting before Pregnancy upon Maternal Fasting as a Teratogen in Mice

Abstract

Modification of teratogenicity of maternal fasting during pregnancy by intermittent fasting before pregnancy as a pretreatment was studied. The intermittent fasts of 24 hours once a week were imposed on female Japanese dd strain mice during the period from 4 to 11 weeks of age. The controls were maintained without such pretreatment. Both groups were mated after the age of 12 weeks; fasting for 48 hours was imposed on about half the number of pregnant females from each group beginning on day 9 of gestation. Water was available ad libitum. The animals were killed on day 18. The fetuses were weighed, examined for intrauterine death and external deformities, and then examined for internal malformations or the state of ossification. The pretreated fasted group when compared with the nonpretreated fasted group showed decreased embryonic mortality, mitigated retardation of the ossification in certain parts of the fetuses, and a tendency toward decreased incidence of some internal deformities.