Response of animals to dietary gramine. II. Effects of feeding high-gramine yellow lupin seeds on reproductive performance of rats and on selected hematological and biochemical parameters in offspring.

Two groups of 26 male and 26 female rats at the initial age 30 +/- 2 days were fed during 31 weeks on diets containing 20 percent of yellow lupin seeds having low (LG) or high (HG) gramine content. The animals were mated twice within nutritional groups, 1 male: 1 female, and their main reproductive parameters were recorded. In both reproductive cycles body weight of females at mating, after parturition and after 21-days lactation was lower in HG than in LG group. Fertility rate and body weight of neonates were not affected by the diet while number of neonates per litter tended to be lower by 0.7 and 0.8 pups in HG than in LG group. Body weight of weaners was also substantially smaller in dams fed on HG than LG diet. Relative weight of spleen but not of liver, kidney and heart was significantly greater in HG females. Four weeks old males and females issued from the first litters born to LG and HG animals (ten males and ten females per treatment) were fed individually on respective diets during 3 weeks. Feed intake and growth rate did not differ between the treatments. In males relative weight of liver and testicles was greater, while hematocrit and red blood count were lower in HG than in LG group. In females organ weights did not differ. Activity of liver enzymes determined in males was not affected by the diet. It may be concluded that high-gramine lupin affects negatively lactational performance, probably via lower feed intake, but it does not induce apparent teratogenic effects in the progeny.