Influence of supplemental dietary vitamin A on the reproductive performance of iodine-toxic rats
Stowe, H.D.; Rangel, F.; Anstead, C.; Goelling, B.
Journal of Nutrition 110(10): 1947-1957
1980
ISSN/ISBN: 0022-3166 PMID: 7420203 Document Number: 156519
Sprague-Dawley female rats were accustomed to a purified diet and assigned, at breeding time, to 2 X 3 factorial experiments to test the effects of vitamin A 600 and 12 000 IU (experiment 1) and 12 000 and 480 000 IU (experiment 2)/kg diet as retinyl palmitate on the reproductive performance of rats given iodine 0.2, 500 or 1000 mg/kg. With those amounts of I, the daily I intake of the rats during gestation in both experiments was 0.003, 8.8 and 17 mg, respectively, and was not affected by vitamin A intake. The I intakes were correlated positively with the percentage of stillborn pups per litter, negatively with packed cell volumes of the whelping dams and negatively with the survival rates of their liveborn pups. Most deaths of pups occurred within 24 h of delivery and were attributed to the iodine-induced anaemia or agalactia or both. Vitamin A supplements did not significantly reduce the effects of I toxicity on the values measured, although there was a tendency for vitamin A to reduce the percentage of stillbirths in litters of dams given I 1000 mg/kg, to increase the number of weaned pups per litter of dams given I 500 or 1000 mg/kg and to maintain relative liver size of the I-toxic dams during lactation.