Effects of inanition, semistarvation, and protein-free diets on serum proteins

¹ Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, California

The effects of inanition, semistarvation, and protein-free diets on the partition of serum proteins in adult, male, Sprague-Dawley rats was investigated following weight losses of 12, 26, and 33%. The quantitative changes in the serum protein fractions under the various types of nutritional stress showed significant differences. The albumin, ₁- and -globulin fractions decreased significantly in the rats on the starvation regimen, while the semistarvation diet caused major alterations in the ₁- and ß-globulins. Feeding a protein-free diet elicited the greatest decline in total serum proteins, reflecting the changes in the albumin, ₁-, and ₂-globulin fractions. The conclusion was drawn that the electrophoretic fractions of serum do not respond in a uniform and nonspecific manner to diverse nutritional stresses.

Key Words: nutritional stress • electrophoresis • comparative physiology • animal nutrition

Submitted on July 19, 1963