Infertility in Mice caused by Nutritional Stress before Mating

Abstract

MICE from which all food was withheld for 48 h from th e end of the third to the end of the fifth day after finding copulation plugs did not litter¹. The fasting appeared to depress hypophyseal gonadotrophic function, causing degeneration of the deciduomata and secondary embryonic death. Although embryonic death is an important cause of infertility, failure of fertilization and death of ova before nidation are also commonly involved in the patho-genesis of mammalian infertility. This communication reports the results of attempts to influence the viability of the ovum by imposing nutritional stress before ovula-tion. As it was essential not to inhibit oestrus and mating a shorter period of starvation was given.