Maternal protein restriction affects the differentiation of cells in the epididymal epithelium lining of 44-day-old rats

Maternal protein restriction delays the differentiation of epididymal mesenchymal cells in newborn rats. However, it's unclear if this delay persists until the full differentiation of the epididymal epithelium at 44 days postnatal. Thus, this study aimed to assess the impact of maternal protein reduction on 44-day-old rats' epididymal epithelium differentiation, following up on the observed delay in newborn animals. Pregnant rats were randomly divided into groups receiving normal-protein (NP - 17% protein) or low-protein (LP – 6% protein) diets during gestation and lactation. On postnatal day (PDN) 44, male offspring were euthanized, and the epididymis (NP n=10, LP n=10) was processed according to immunohistochemical techniques for the detection of aquaporin 9 (AQP9), KI-67, TP63, and ATPase. LP rats showed: a decrease in the intensity of the AQP9 reaction, an increase in cellular proliferation in the initial segment and corpus of the epididymis, an increase in basal cells in the caput and corpus epididymis, and an increase in ATPase-positive clear cells in the cauda region. These findings demonstrate that maternal protein restriction impacts cell differentiation in the epididymal epithelium of 44-day-old rats, persisting even with a normal-protein diet after weaning.