1998 Volume 23 Issue 5 Pages 365-371
The authors previously reported that male offspring of mother rats given alkaline ionized water (AKW) showed a significantly higher body weight by day 14 after birth than did offspring of mother rats given tap water (TPQ) ; furthermore, marked myocardial necrosis and fibrosis were observed particularly in the former male offspring at the age of 15 weeks. In the present experiment we looked for differences in bioparameters, namely the milk yeild of mothers and suckled milk volume of the offspring, between the AKW-and the TPW-treated groups in order to reveal the factors which cause the unusual body weight gain in the offspring. Even though we were able to repeat our previous observation (the body weight of the male offspring of the AKW group increased significantly more by day 14 and 20 after birth and of the female by day 20 after birth than did that of the TPW group (p<0.05), no significant difference was noted in any of the bioparameters, including those related to milk production and consumption. It is thus suspected that the water-hydrated cation, which was transferred either to the fetus through the placenta or to the offspring through the milk, might be the cause of the unusual body weight increase. Since calcium plays an important role in skeletal formation, it is tentatively concluded tht the higher calcium concentration of AKW enriched the mother, serum calcium which was transferred to the fetus through the placenta and to the offspring through the milk.
