Effect of Severe Calcium Deficiency on Pregnancy and Lactation in the Rat

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Abstract
Rats reared from weaning time on a synthetic diet containing only about 10 mg. calcium per 100 gm. food failed to mate. After being transferred to the diet low in calcium, fertility was markedly decreased among a group of mothers which had borne a previous litter each. The number of viable young produced was very low. The mothers and young were subject to the consequences of extreme calcium deficiency as evidenced by their susceptibility to hemorrhages, prostration and paralysis induced by a galvanic stimulus. The symptoms were greatly exaggerated in severity for the young. Pregnancy was not a great drain upon the calcium stores of the mother rat, but lactation definitely reduced the amount of skeletal calcium. This was shown by a lowering of total body calcium content, serum calcium concentration, percentage bone ash and per cent of calcium of bone and ash. These changes were magnified by a marked loss in weight by the mother during lactation as contrasted to a maintenance of body weight during gestation. Calcium-deficient young that were able to survive, were almost normal at birth except for a low bone ash and bone calcium content. The deficient mother was able to supply some calcium to the young during the lactation period but not enough to maintain the normal calcium content of the skeletal structures. She was not capable of providing enough milk to allow for the normal growth of her young.