Effects of restricted food and water regimes on the estrous cycle of the rat.
The possibility that daily food and water presentation is a more potent synchronizer to the estrual rhythm of the female rat than the light-dark cycle was investigated by presenting food and water ad libitum only during the dark period or only during the light period of an LD 12:12. It was found that the daily feeding and drinking regimes did not synchronize the estrous cycle, but only disrupted the synchrony between the LD cycle and the estrous cycle. Because there was no significant difference between body weights of the groups, results cannot be interpreted in terms of under-nourishment effects on hormone synthesis, but rather in terms of the temporal characteristics of food and water intake.
D000818:Animals; D003624:Darkness; D004326:Drinking; D004435:Eating; D004971:Estrus; D005260:Female; D008027:Light; D011247:Pregnancy; D051381:Rats; D013997:Time Factors