DNA polymerase and thymidine kinase activities in different regions of rat brain during postnatal development: effect of undernutrition.

The effect of undernutrition on the activity of two key enzymes for DNA synthesis, namely DNA polymerase and thymidine kinase, in developing rat brain has been investigated. Both enzymatic activities in cerebral hemispheres and in brain stem are lower in undernourished animals than in controls at the 5th day after birth; successively, from 5 to 30 days, they decrease in both groups of animals, however the decrease is less drastic in undernourished rats than in controls. At 30 days of age the specific activity of both enzymes is quite similar in the two groups of animals. In the cerebellum, DNA polymerase and thymidine kinase activities increase after 5 days of age showing a peak at around 9 days in controls and at about 13 days in undernourished animals, decreasing thereafter in both groups, although less drastically in undernourished animals, and reaching quite similar values at 30 days. The results obtained show that both enzymatic activities are impaired at 5 days and delayed thereafter, in agreement with the changes of DNA synthesis previously observed.