Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-r5fsc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T06:09:46.406Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The effect of methylxanthines on milk volume and composition, and growth of rat pups

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 March 2007

Alexandra D. Hart  and
R. F. Grimble
Alexandra D. Hart*
Affiliation:
Nutrition Department, School of Biochemical and Physiological Sciences, Medical and Biological Sciences Building, Southampton University, Bassett Crescent East, Southampton S09 3TU
R. F. Grimble*
Affiliation:
Nutrition Department, School of Biochemical and Physiological Sciences, Medical and Biological Sciences Building, Southampton University, Bassett Crescent East, Southampton S09 3TU
*
*Present address:Department of Food Science & Technology, University of Science & Technology, PMB 5080, Nkpolu, Port Harcourt, Nigeria.
†For reprints.
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

A study was conducted to investigate the effect of differential dose levels of methylxanthines on lactational performance, with respect to milk volume and composition and pup growth. The methylxanthines; caffeine, theophylline and theobromine, were administered via drinking water in the proportions occurring in tea, at a dose of 50, 1 and 2 mg/kg body-weight respectively to Wistar albino rats throughout pregnancy and for up to the 14th day of lactation. A fourth group received a mixture of all three methylxanthines. Maternal food and fluid intake and weight changes, as well as weight gain in the litter were monitored thrice weekly. Milk samples were collected from the dams on days 7 and 14 of lactation, while milk volume was measured on days 12–13 by a method using tritiated water. Results showed that caffeine and theobromine significantly enhanced litter weight (P < 0.01 and 0.05 respectively). In the caffeine group, enhanced litter growth was due to a significant increase (P < 0.05) in milk volume, consequent to increased maternal food intake (P < 0.05). In the theobromine group there was only a weak association between increased litter weight and milk volume. Theophylline had no effect on the volume or composition of milk, or litter weight. The combination of all three methylxanthines also failed to produce any of the positive effects observed with separate drug treatments.

Keywords

MethylxanthinesLactational performanceGrowthRat
Type
Pregnancy and Lactation
Information
British Journal of Nutrition , Volume 64 , Issue 2 , September 1990 , pp. 339 - 350
Copyright
Copyright © The Nutrition Society 1990

References

Acheson, K. J., Zahorska-Markiewicz, B., Petiet, P. H., Anantharam, K. & Jequier, E. (1980). Caffeine and coffee: their influence on metabolic rate and substrate utilisation in normal weight and obese individuals. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 33, 989–997.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Aeschbacher, H. & Wurzner, H. (1975). Effect of methylxanthines on hepatic microsomal enzymes in the rat. Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology 33, 575–581.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Anon. (1981). Third International Caffeine Workshop. Special Report. Nutrition Reviews 39, 183–191.Google Scholar
Axelrod, J. & Reichenthal, J. (1953). The fate of caffeine in man and a method for its estimation in biological materials. Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics 107, 519–523.Google Scholar
Bellet, S., Kershbaum, A. & Finck, E. M. (1968). Response of free fatty acids to coffee and caffeine. Metabolism 17, 702–707.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bellet, S., Roman, L., DeCastro, O., Kim, K. E. & Kershbaum, A. (1969). Effect of coffee ingestion on catecholamine release. Metabolism 18, 288–291.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Berlin, C. M. Jr (1981). Excretion of methylxanthines in human milk. Seminars in Perinatology 5, 389–394.Google ScholarPubMed
Chalk, P. A. & Bailey, E. (1979). Changes in the yield and carbohydrate, lipid and protein content of milk during lactation in the rat. Journal of Developmental Physiology 1, 61–79.Google ScholarPubMed
Chatwin, A. L., Linzell, J. L. & Setchell, B. P. (1969). Cardiovascular changes during lactation in the rat. Journal of Endocrinology 44, 247–254.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Daly, J. (1977). Cyclic Nucleotides in the Central Nervous System. New York: Plenum Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Daly, J. W. (1982). Adenosine receptors: target for future drugs. Journal of Medical Chemistry 25, 197–207.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Daly, J. W., Bruns, R. F. & Snyder, S. H. (1981). Adenosine receptors in the central nervous system: Relationship to the central actions of methylxanthines. Life Sciences 28, 2083–2097.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Daly, J. W., Butts-Lamb, P. & Padgett, W. (1983). Subclasses of adenosine receptors in the central nervous system: interaction of caffeine and related methylxanthines. Cellular and Molecular Neurobiology 3, 69–80.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Daubresse, J.-C., Luyckx, A., Demey-Ponsart, E., Franchimont, P. & Lefebvre, P. (1973). The effects of coffee and caffeine on carbohydrate metabolism, free fatty acid, insulin, growth hormone and cortisol plasma levels in man. Acta Diabetologia Latin Americana 10, 1069–1084.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fredholm, B. B. (1978). Local regulation of lipolysis in adipose tissue by fatty acids, prostaglandins and adenosine. Review article. Medican Biology 56, 249–286.Google Scholar
Fredholm, B. B. (1980) Are methylxanthine effects due to antagonism of endogenous adenosine? Trends in Pharmacological Sciences 1, 129–132.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fredholm, B. B. & Persson, C. G. A. (1982). Xanthine derivatives as adenosine receptor antagonists. European Journal of Pharmacology 81, 673–676.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gould, R. J., Murphy, K. M. M., Katims, J. J. & Snyder, S. H. (1984). Caffeine actions and adenosine. Psychopharmacology Bulletin 20, 436–440.Google ScholarPubMed
Graham, D. M. K. (1978). Caffeine its identity, dietary sources, intake and biological effects. Nutrition Review 36, 97 102.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hart, A. & Grimble, R. F. (1990). The effects of methylxanthines on lactational performance. Annals of Nutrition and Metabolism 115 (In the Press)Google Scholar
Hartman, P. E. & Prosser, C. G. (1984). Physiological basis of longitudinal changes in human milk yield and composition. Federation Proceedings 43, 2448–2453.Google Scholar
Homing, M. G., Butler, C. M., Nowlin, J. & Hill, R. M. (1975). Mini review: drug metabolism in the human neonate. Life Sciences 16, 651–671.Google Scholar
Jenness, R. (1974). The composition of milk. In Lactation: A Comprehensive Treatise, vol. 3, pp. 8–12 [Larson, B. and Smith, V. R., editors]. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Kakiuchi, S., Yamazaki, R., Teshima, Y., Uenishi, K. & Miyamoto, E. (1975). Multiple cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase activities from rat tissues and occurrence of calcium plus magnesium ion dependent phosphodiesterase and its protein activator. Biochemical Journal 146, 108–120.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lowry, O. II., Rosenbrough, N. J., Farr, A. L. & Randall, R. J. (1951). Protein measurement with the Folin phenol reagent. Journal of Biological Chemistry 193, 265–275.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McDanicl, M. L., Weaver, D. C., Roth, C. E., Fink, C. J., Swanson, J. A. & Lacy, P. E. (1977). Charactcrisation of the uptake of the methylxanthines theophylline and caffeine in isolated pancreatic islets and their effect on D-glucose transport. Endocrinology 101, 1701–1708.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mansaray, Y. K. C. (1985). The effects of protein nutrition on lactational performance. PhD Thesis, University of Southampton.Google Scholar
Naismith, D. J., Richardson, D. P. & Pritchard, A. E. (1982). The utilisation of protein and energy during lactation in the rat, with particular regard to the use of fat accumulated during pregnancy. British Journal of Nutrition 48, 433–441.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Newby, A. C. (1984). Adenosine and the concept of retaliatory metabolites. Trends in Biochemical Sciences 9, 42–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ogilvie, R. I. (1978). Clinical pharmacokinetics of theophylline. Clinical Pharmacokineties 3, 267 Abstr.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Parsons, W. D., Aranda, J. V. & Ncims, A. (1976). Elimination of transplacentally acquired caffeine in full-term. Pediatric Research 10, 333 Abstr.Google Scholar
Patwardhan, R. V., Desmond, P. V., Johnson, R. F., Dunn, D., Robertson, E., Hoyumpa, A. M. & Schenker, S. (1980). Effects of caffeine on plasma free fatty acids, urinary catecholamines and drug binding. Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics 28, 398–403.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rath, E. A. & Thenen, S. N. (1979). Use of tritiated water for measurement of 24 hour milk intake by suckling lean and genetically obese (ob/ob) mice. Journal of Nutrition 109, 840–847.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Resman, B. H., Blumenthal, H. P. & Jusko, W. J. (1977). Breastmilk distribution of theobromine from chocolate. Journal of Pediatries 91, 477–480.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ritchie, J. (1975). Central nervous system stimulants. 11. The xanthines. In The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics, 5th ed., pp. 367–378 [Goodman, L. S. and Gilman, A., editors]. New York: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Smellie, F. W., Davis, C. W., Daly, J. W. & Wells, J. N. (1979). Akylxanthines; inhibition of adenosine-elicited accumulation of cyclic AMP in brain slices and of brain phosphodiesterase activity. Life Sciences 24, 2475–2482.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Technician Instruments Co. Ltd. (1971). Triglycerides. Technical Bulletin AAII-23, pp. 1–5. Tarrytown, New York: Technicon Instruments Co. Ltd.Google Scholar
Tyralla, E. E. & Dodson, W. E. (1979). Caffeine secretion into breastmilk. Archives of Diseases in Childhood 54, 787–800.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Widdowson, E. M. (1976). Changes in the body and its organs during lactation: nutritional implications. In Breast Feeding and the Mother, CIBA Foundation Symposium no. 456 (new series), pp. 102–112. Amsterdam: Elsevier Excerpta Medica, North Holland.Google Scholar
Wilde, C. J. & Kuhn, N. J. (1979). Lactose synthesis in the rat, and the effects of litter size and malnutrition. Biochemical Journal 182, 287–294.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Williamson, D. H. (1980). Integration of metabolism in tissues of the lactating rat. FEBS Letters 117, Suppl., K93–K105.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Yurchak, A. M. & Jusko, W. J. (1978) Theophylline secretion into breast milk, Pediatrics 57, 518–525.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zoumas, B. L. & Tarka, S. M. (1976). The effect of dietary theobromine on food intake and growth of rats. Federation Proceedings 35, 341 Abstr.Google Scholar