Continuous Deep Intravenous Infusion in Rat Fertility Studies

Abstract

Long-term intravenous (IV) infusion could be an important tool in toxicological testing for effects on fertility and sexual behavior. An experiment was performed to evaluate the feasibility of performing fertility studies in male and female rats using continuous deep IV infusion. A Silastic catheter was implanted in the inferior vena cava of 20 male and 20 female SD rats. The implanted rats were then continuously infused with sterile isotonic glucose solution. The females were infused for 2 weeks before mating with untreated males, after which infusion continued until termination on day 18 ± 1 of gestation. Blood samples were taken from the pregnant females for clinical pathology investigations. The implanted males were treated for 4 weeks before successive pairing with 2 untreated females. Litter data were recorded following caesarean section of the mated females. The only adverse effects found were a slight transient reduction in weight gain of the infused females at the start of gestation and minor effects on food consumption. Fertility and fecundity of the infused rats were normal.