Figure 2.

Maternal selenium (Se) deficiency is associated with decreased litter size but similar weight after birth. C57Bl/6 mice were placed on diets that differed only in Se content, either 0.4 ppm or <0.01 ppm of sodium selenite. Breeding was initiated after 2–4 weeks on diets and natural delivery was allowed. (A) Neonatal pup weight per litter on day of birth, (B) number of pups per litter on day of birth, (C) ratio of females per litter, (D) plasma glutathione peroxidase activity level by oxidation of NADPH per minute. Each data point represents either a female or male from each litter; each individual point is an average of two mice. Triangles are SeS data points and circles are SeD data points. N = 4–13 litters for all groups. Data are presented as mean (±SEM), * p < 0.05 vs. SeS control, by two-sided t-test.