Pathological changes in pregnant mice infected with Coxsackievirus B3 and given dietary casein hydrolysate supplement.

Coxsackievirus B3 infection in pregnant mice leads to a severe pancreatic exocrine insufficiency in the mothers and retarded foetal growth. As a consequence of the pancreatic damage, the animals are rendered incapable of digesting sufficient amounts of dietary proteins to allow maternal liver development to proceed as normal for the pregnant rodent. Faecal nitrogen was increased and the maternal livers were small for the weights of the animals and exhibited a lower than normal nitrogen content. Feeding of additional amino acids and simple peptides in the diet in the form of casein hydrolysate either from before or after virus injection appeared to compensate for the inability of these animals to digest dietary protein nitrogen and allowed maternal liver development and foetal growth to proceed at a rate not significantly different from normal. Although these results apply to infections with Coxsackievirus B3 in pregnancy, they may be relevant to other infections which adversely affect foetal growth by their pathological effects on maternal organs necessary for maintaining optimal foetal growth.