BLOOD VOLUME CHANGES IN THE LACTATING RAT1

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Abstract
Plasma volume (dye method), hematocrit value, and hemo- globin and plasma protein concentrations were measured in normal female rats at two stages of lactation and two weeks post-lactation, and from these data total blood and erythrocyte volumes and total hemoglobin were calculated. In the lactating rats, the total blood, erythrocyte and plasma volumes and total hemoglobin increased significantly above control values in non-pregnant rats, and returned to the pre-pregnancy levels in the post-lactation period. Plasma specific gravity decreased significantly during lactation, and there was a loss of plasma proteins in the second half of this period. Hematocrit values and hemoglobin concentrations did not rise above the control values. There was no correlation between maternal blood picture and litter size, but there was a high inverse correlation between litter size and the body weight of the offspring at the end of lactation. It is suggested that the increase in the volume of circulating erythrocytes constitutes a lactation polychthemia, the function of which may be to increase the oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood of meet the increased metabolic demands of lactation.

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