title: Prepartal lactose concentration in the mammary glands of Uje: WIST rats as a simple indicator of approaching parturition.
abstract: Immediately after delivery, lactose was reliably detectable in rat mammary glands (mean concentration 6.49 +/- 0.57 mg/g tissue). The concentrations were not influenced by prepartal biopsy of contralateral mammary tissue. In the morning of the 21st day of gestation (= expected day of labor), lactose was evident in the mammary glands of dams delivering at that day (mean concentration 2.39 +/- 0.17 mg/g tissue). In the tissue of dams delivering on day 22 of gestation, lactose was undetectable. A correlation between prepartal lactose concentration of mammary gland and time remaining up to beginning of delivery (r = -0.96) qualifies this parameter as a rough indicator of term of parturition.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Germany.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Glöckner
authors.forename: F K
authors.initials: FK
authors.lastname: Splinter
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001706:Biopsy / Q000662:veterinary; D005260:Female; D007743:Labor, Obstetric / Q000502:physiology*; D007785:Lactose / Q000032:analysis*; D008321:Mammary Glands, Animal / Q000737:chemistry*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011270:Pregnancy, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D007785:Lactose