Cerebellar DNA and tissue water changes in the brain of diabetes insipidus brattleboro rats are already present at birth.

Homozygous (HOM) Brattleboro rat newborns, congenitally lacking vasopressin, weighed less than heterozygous controls born from HOM females and reared as 9-pup litters. Whole brain and specific brain regions (cerebral cortex, medulla oblongata and colliculi but not the cerebellum) were also reduced in weight. Decreased tissue water content was observed in the regions affected in weight. In the cerebellum, on the other hand, a 20% lower DNA content was measured, which points to a prenatal origin for the impaired cerebellar neurogenesis which is known to exist postnatally.