QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text (PDF) Purchase Article View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Apgar, J. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Apgar, J.

Effects of Zinc Deficiency and Zinc Repletion During Pregnancy on Parturition in Two Strains of Rats

U.S. Plant, Soil and Nutrition Laboratory, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Tower Road, Ithaca, New York 14853

The effects on parturition of a low zinc diet during pregnancy and of three levels of zinc repletion late in pregnancy were compared in two strains of rats, Sprague Dawley and Long Evans. Long Evans rats had a higher hematocrit and higher plasma protein levels than did Sprague Dawley rats. Long Evans rats also had heavier mammary glands and tended to deliver somewhat later than the Sprague Dawley rats. Weight gains during pregnancy and weights of the liver, spleen, adrenal glands, and pups did not vary between strains. No differences were detectable in the degree of stress at parturition between the unsupplemented females of the two strains. Injection of 300, 600, or 900 µg zinc on day 18 of pregnancy increased female weight gains, pup weight, and spleen and mammary gland weights, and decreased hematocrit level. Three females in the unsupplemented groups died about the expected time of parturition; none died in the supplemented groups. Although there were some differences between the strains, the effects of a low zinc diet and the requirement for zinc for normal parturition were the same in the two strains. An injection of 900 µg zinc on day 18 resulted in normal parturition in both strains.

KEY WORDS: • hematocrit • parturition • dystocia

Manuscript received 16 August 1976.