MORPHOLOGY AND CELLULARITY OF BRAIN AND VISCERAL ORGANS OF SEVERELY UNDERNOURISHED BABY PIGS ARE RESTORED AFTER 8 WEEKS OF REFEEDING

Our objective was to assess the response of specific organs and tissue s to dietary rehabilitation following severe calorie undernutrition. P igs were weaned at 4 d of age, with 1/2 (C; n = 4) given free access t o a nutritionally adequate diet throughout the experiment (87 d), and 1/2 (R; n 4) fed an adequate diet at 4% of body weight daily for 31 d, then given free access to an adequate diet for 8 wk. Growth rates of C and R pigs were similar during the 8-wk refeeding period; C pigs wer e approximately 9 kg heavier than R pigs at d 87. Body length, absolut e organ weights, total body K, and total body lean mass were also redu ced in R pigs. However, relative weights of small intestine, large int estine, cerebellum, and cerebrum were significantly greater in R than in C pigs. Protein and DNA concentration, content, and the protein/DNA ratio in liver, small intestine and cerebrum were not significantly d ifferent between C and R pigs. Our results suggest that a 4-5 wk perio d of severe undernutrition in neonatal pigs not malnourished prenatall y or during the first 4 d postnatal, and in the absence of concomitant infections and diarrhea, does not produce permanent adverse effects o n functional development.