Abstract
Extract: The health of mothers was found to influence mortality of infant mice inoculated at 2 days of age with lymphocytic choriomeningitis (LCM) virus. When a normal mother (not exposed to LCM) was exchanged on day 9 after infection of the offspring with the original mother of LCM-inoculated mice a 20% decrease in mortality was observed, and when two mothers per litter were used the mortality dropped by 32%. Substitution of the original mother of uninoculated 9-day-old infant mice with a mother from LCM-infected mice induced a 15% greater mortality above the control level.
Daily exchange (rotation) of mothers increased mortality of LCM-inoculated mice to 100% from the usual value of 71%, but only induced 11% mortality in uninoculated controls. Weight, and immunity tests, of mothers of infected mice showed that they received contact infection that caused mild illness, but in increased infant mortality (IM).
Speculation: Lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus used as an infectious agent in mice indicate that sick infant mice are very susceptible to minor changes in maternal care, consequent upon mild or subclinical infection. Illness of both mother and offspring apparently results in a synergistic lethal effect resulting in exaggerated IM. Although it appears likely that IM arises from poor maternal care, other factors such as milk composition, including antibody content, may be involved, and may be relevent to comparable situations in man.
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Hotchin, J., Benson, L. & Gardner, J. Mother-Infant Interaction in Lymphocytic Choriomeningitis Virus Infection of the Newborn Mouse: The Effect of Maternal Health on Mortality of Offspring. Pediatr Res 4, 194–200 (1970). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-197003000-00010
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-197003000-00010