Effects of ovine prolactin in infant rats.
The objective of this study was to determine the effects of ovine prolactin (oPRL) on body growth and the content of RNA, DNA and protein in liver, brain and heart muscle in rat pups. Suckling rats were daily injected from 3rd to 28th day of life with 1 microgram of oPRL/g body weight. Our results show that oPRL administration evoked higher body weight gain up to 8th day of life (p less than 0.05). There was significant (p less than 0.05) increase of DNA liver content and significant decrease (p less than 0.001) of RNA/DNA ratio in the hepatocytes. The findings suggest that prolactin influences growth rate of rats in the early postnatal period of life.
Ryníková
A
A
Institute of Animal Physiology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Kosice/Czechoslovakia.
Koppel
J
J
Kuchár
S
S
Cikos
S
S
Mozes
S
S
D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D001923:Brain Chemistry; D004247:DNA / Q000032:analysis; D005260:Female; D006128:Growth / Q000187:drug effects; D007271:Injections, Intradermal; D008099:Liver / Q000032:analysis; D008297:Male; D009206:Myocardium / Q000032:analysis; D011388:Prolactin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D011506:Proteins / Q000032:analysis; D012313:RNA / Q000032:analysis; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D012756:Sheep; D013997:Time Factors; D015430:Weight Gain
D011506:Proteins; D012313:RNA; D011388:Prolactin; D004247:DNA