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Milking apparatus for rats to analyze changes of fee amino acids in milk throughout lactation
Author(s) -
Gabriel Ana Maria San,
Chotechuang Nattida,
Hirota Mariko,
Goda Yoshiki,
Nakamura Eiji,
Uneyama Hisayuki
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.24.1_supplement.lb270
Subject(s) - taurine , lactation , amino acid , milking , alanine , peristaltic pump , medicine , glutamic acid , chemistry , zoology , endocrinology , biology , biochemistry , pregnancy , physics , meteorology , genetics
To collect successive milk samples throughout lactation in Sprague‐Dawley rats and analyze changes in free amino acids in milk, we used an aspirator with a silicon suction cup attached to a peristaltic pump. The suction cap was adapted to the shape of the teat and the aspirator with the peristaltic pump mimicked the oral negative sucking pressure inside the mouth: 3 pulses per minute with maximum pressure of 20 kPas. Using this method, we obtained enough milk (0.5 to 2 mL) for amino acid analysis. Milk contains a pool of free amino acids that may have an important role during postnatal physiology. Although the pool of free amino acids in rat milk is not as high as in human milk, we examine whether the rat is a good model to study free amino acid regulation in milk. As others have previously reported, in average taurine was the most abundant free amino acid in rat milk followed by alanine and glutamic acid. However, while taurine and alanine remained constant throughout lactation, glutamate and aspartate sharply increased at the late stages (day 12 and day 18) as they do in human and pig milk. These results corroborate that the rat is a good laboratory model for the study of free amino acid changes in milk during lactation.