42 IJSR - INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH Volume : 5 | Issue : 8 | August 2016 • ISSN No 2277 - 8179 | IF : 3.508 | IC Value : 69.48 Original Research Paper Medical Science * M.M. Karandikar Department of Physiology, Bharati Vidyapeeth’s Medical College, Dhankawadi, Pune ,411037, India, * Corresponding author S.M.Vaidya Professor and Head, Dept of Physiology, Bharati Vidyapeeth’s Medical College, Dhankawadi, Pune 411037,India K.G.Apte Director, National Toxicology Centre and APT Research Foundation, Sinhagad Road, Pune,India Haematological Profile in Chronically Undernourished Thrifty Rats at 28 Days of Age KEYWORDS : Foetal Programming, Multigenerational Undernutrition, Complete Blood Count, Post-weaning profile ABSTRACT Foetal programming due to undernutrition is a known risk factor for the worldwide epidemic of Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.Total leukocyte count (6.9 vs. 12.7x 103/μL ; p<0.0001, n=6, U vs. C) and Lympho- cytes (36.5% vs. 67.7%; p<0.0001, n=6, U vs. C) was significantly lower but granulocytes was significantly higher (21.1% vs. 69.9%; p<0.0001, n=6, U vs. C ) in the undernourished colony, RBC content (7.7 vs. 9.4 x 1012/L;, p< non significant,n=6, U vs. C) Hb (11.5g/ dl vs 14.8g/dl; p<0.0001, n=6, U vs. C) and Hematocrit (39.05% vs. 47.11%; p<0.0001, n=6, U vs. C ) were less but with a high RBC distribution width (11.99 vs. 13.36,p<0.0001,n=6,U vs. C). Platelet count (424.3 vs. 602.3 x 103/microliter, p<0.001, n=6, U vs. C) and Mean platelet volume (5.9 vs. 6.1 fL p< 0.01, n=6, U vs. C) were lower in the undernourished colony. This is indicative of a state of anae- mia, an inflammatory process and a hypoplastic bone marrow. Introduction Developing countries like India face a burden of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus, micro- and macro-vascular disease and cancer (Echouffo-Tcheugui 2012). There is increasing evi- dence from worldwide studies that have shown that these diseases occur due to impaired intrauterine growth (IUGR) and development (Godfrey and Barker 2000) .Experimental studies in a variety of animals have shown that this occurs due to “programming”, wherein an insult during the intra- uterine life causes permanent changes in the development of a variety of tissue and organ systems. These alterations include a variety of cellular, structural, chemical, metabolic and hormonal adaptations to the undernourished environ- ment during fetal life (McMillan and Robinson 2005).A va- riety of clinical studies have confirmed these observations. The studies carried out by David Barker and C.S.Yajnik provide evidence for the role of undernutrition in fetal pro- gramming especially in the Indian scenario. The Thin-Fat Indian phenotype as seen in the Pune Maternal Nutrition Studies has highlighted the role of body composition. In- dian babies have the third lowest birth weight in the world, are insulin resistant, centrally obese but have a lower soft tissue weight. This phenotype is present at birth and is probably programmed through many generations of under- nutrition (Yajnik, Fall et al 2003). Similar observations by have been made in a Wistar rat model (Thrifty Jerry) that has been chronically undernour- ished for more than 50 generations. The rats were insulin resistant, centrally obese, had higher homocysteine, endo- toxin and leptin levels but lower adiponectin, vitamin B12 and folate levels.Exposure to streptozotocin, a selective β cell toxin showed an eight-fold increased susceptibility to diabetes. These animals also showed a reduction in soft tis- sue growth especially in muscle, heart, liver and the pan- creas (Hardikar et al 2015). A restricted diet has also shown a disturbed hematopoi- etic environment in the bone marrow leading to hypocel- lularity, necrosis, and extracellular matrix modifications in undernourished animals (Travlos GS (2006), Fried W et al (1978), Vituri CL(2000), Prestes-Carneiro et al (2006) and Borelli P et al(1995).However, the effect of multigen- erational undernutrition on the haematological profile has not been evaluated. In this study we looked at the effect of multigenerational undernutrition on the blood cell count in 28 day pups. Materials and Methods The study was carried out in pups from a multigeneration- ally (50 generations) undernourished wistar rat colony. The colony was undernourished for proteins, fats, fiber, vi- tamins and received a 50% isocaloric diet. (Hardikar et al 2015).The control group received a standard rat feed. Blood was collected from 28 day pups by retro-orbital bleeding and serum was immediately separated and analysed for Complete Blood Count (CBC) on an autoanalyser (Mindray BC2800 ).The study was ethically approved by the institu- tional ethics commiee. Statistical Analysis All estimations were carried out in triplicates and values are ex- pressed as +/- Std Error of Mean (SEM).The statistical signifi- cance was evaluated by the unpaired t test using GraphPad Prism 6 version software. Results Table 1: Complete Blood Counts in Control and Under- nourished (Thrifty Jerry) Wistar Rat Pups (28 Day) Parameter Undernourished Control TLC ( x 10 3 /μL) *** 6.9 ± 0.7016 12.7 ± 1.519 Lymphocytes % **** 36.5 ± 4.280 67.7 ± 4.020 Granulocytes % **** 69.9 ± 3.301 29.13 ± 3.861 Monocyte % 3.05 ± 0.1258 3.16 ± 0.1764 RBC Count ( x 10 6 /μL) 7.74 ± 0.7441 9.39 ± 0.2817 Hb (g/dl) **** 11.5 ± 0.4359 14.8 ± 0.3180 RBC distribution width *** 11.99 ± 0.1370 13.36 ± 0.2881 Platelet Count ( x 10 3 / μL) ** Mean platelet Vol (fL)* 424.3 ± 42.89 5.960 ± 0.05099 602.3 ± 51.34 6.329 ± 0.09440 Hematoctrit HCT *** 39.05 ± 1.256 47.11 ± 0.6277 MCV (μm 3 ) 53.93 ± 0.6537 53.04 ± 1.271 MCHC (g/dl) 30.60 ± 0.3256 31.26 ± 0.2010 MCH (g ) 15.8 ± 0.43 16.1 ± 0.53 * p< 0.01,** p<0.001,***/****P<0.0001