How Does Protein Malnutrition or Food Deprivation Interfere with the Growth of the Epiphyseal Plate in Animals?

Abstract

the aim of this study was to conduct a literature review of impacts of protein malnutrition and/or early food deprivation on the formation of the growth plate in young animals. A search was performed using the databases PubMed/MEDLINE, LILACS, SciELO and the Cochrane Library, without language restrictions or any limit as to year. Initially, 150 articles were identified, however, after application of the inclusion and exclusion criteria only five remained. In three studies the nutritional stress was due to protein malnutrition, another due to fasting and the fifth was due to food restriction. All the studies had some methodological omissions. The studies included in this review-demonstrated corroboration in the results obtained, regardless of whether the animals had been subjected to protein malnutrition, fasting or food restriction. The findings uncovered were reduction in height of the epiphyseal plate, in the number of proliferative and hypertrophic chondrocytes, in the bone growth rate and in the longitudinal length of the bone in animals subjected to nutritional stress. In this systematic review, it was possible to observe the susceptibility of the epiphyseal plate in the first place, and secondarily, of the long bones to the effects of nutritional stress by means of protein malnutrition or food deprivation applied in young animals.

A Life History Perspective on Athletes with Low Energy Availability

“…With respect to growth, this may be threatened in young, still-growing athletes if energy availability is insufficient to meet the simultaneous demands of training, in addition to other essential maintenance functions, and growth. Research performed in rats and rabbits indicated negative impacts of nutritional deprivation on bone epiphyseal plates [110], with implications for longitudinal bone growth. Potential adverse effects of LEA on growth may be particularly relevant in sports that simultaneously emphasize early specialization and leanness and/or lightness (e.g., dancers, gymnastics, and horse-racing jockeys), given that athletes may be required to maintain low body mass at pivotal developmental stages.…”