Variations in the serum cholinesterase activity in normal rats

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Abstract
The serum cholinesterase activity of the rat is low at birth, increases rapidly during the first week of suckling and later decreases. In the male rat this decrease continues to maturity at which stage the level of activity is similar to that of the new-born rat. The level of the female rat after weaning shows a second period of increase, and in the non-pregnant, non-lactating female is between three and four times that of the mature male. After mating the level of activity in the female increases steadily until 5 to 3 days before parturition, then decreases rapidly until the middle of lactation when a slow increase to the non-pregnant, non-lactating level begins. The rat, therefore, shows variations in serum cholinesterase activity characteristic of its age, sex and, in the female, its stage in the reproductive cycle.