[Influence of the dietary level of vitamin B6 on the vitamin nutritional status of the lactating rat and the litter (author's transl)].

Seven groups of female rats which had given birth to the litters of 8 youngs (or litters adjusted to 8 youngs) were fed diets containing respectively 0.25, 0.5, 1, 2, 4, 8 or 16 mg/kg of vitamin B6. Fourteen days after littering, the vitamin B6 content was measured in female tissues (blood, liver, carcass) or in those of the youngs (liver, carcass). Besides, the vitamin B6 content in the stomach of the youngs was measured, 3, 7 and 14 days after birth. 1. When the dietary vitamin B6 content is less than or equal to 1 mg/kg the blood vitamin level in the mother remains very low. As the dietary level rises (beyond 1 mg/kg) the blood vitamin level markedly increases. However the liver and carcass vitamin contents in the mother do not show any baseline value only the carcass content reaches a top value. 2. The highest vitamin B6 content in the stomach of the youngs (milk) is already reached when the diets contains 4 mg/kg of the vitamin. 3. Same results are obtained regarding the vitamin contents of the liver and carcass in the youngs. Therefore it appears that these levels are mainly related to the milk vitamin B6 content in the mother. In a previous work however, it was shown that in similar experimental conditions, the maximum tissue thiamin contents depend upon other mechanisms.