The Relation of Growth and Nutrition to the Reticulocyte Level in the Young Rat

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Abstract
Young rats were given a diet either deficient in tryptophane or in total food energy. Loss in weight was accompanied by a rapid decrease in the reticulocyte level in the blood. With realimentation the gain in weight due to growth and improved nutrition was associated with a parallel increase in the reticulocyte count. Rats receiving the diet deficient in tryptophane showed a practically normal reticulocyte response to a single bleeding. This indicates that the reticulocytopenia in the deficient animals was not primarily related to faulty nutrition in the hemopoietic system. It is suggested that the stimulus to erythropoiesis that occurs during growth is similar to the stimulus following bleeding.