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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Boston, Massachusetts » Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center On Aging » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #58970
Title: THE OSTEOGENIC DISORDER SHIONOGI (ODS) RAT: A NEW MODEL FOR THE STUDY OF VITAMIN C METABOLISM

Author
item SMITH, DONALD - TUFTS-HNRCA
item ASMUNDSSON, GUDBJORN - TUFTS-HNRCA
item PERRONE, GAYLE - TUFTS-HNRCA
item SCOTT, LINDA - TUFTS-HNRCA
item GINDELSKY, BELLA - TUFTS-HNRCA
item TAYLOR, ALLEN - TUFTS-HNRCA

Submitted to: Canadian Association for Laboratory Animal Science/L'Association Canadienne
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/1/1995
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Although the guinea pig has historically been utilized as one of the animals of choice for research involving vitamin C, the size, fraility, feeding habits, and difficulty in collecting blood samples from the guinea pig has made this animal model less than ideal. In 1973, a new sub-line of the Wistar rat - the Osteogenic Disorder Shionogi (ODS) - rat had been reported to be a less problematic animal. In this study, blood levels of vitamins C, E, and A were measured in ODS rats who consumed a vitamin C-deficient diet for 0-18 days. We showed that vitamin C levels in the blood were lowered in these rats as early as 24 hours after vitamin C was removed from the diet. Eighteen days after removal of vitamin C from the diet, blood vitamin C levels were reduced by 6.5 times that of normal levels. Vitamin A levels were 60% less than normal values after 72 hours on the diet with no vitamin C. No significant changes in Vitamin E levels were observed. This study suggests that the ODS rat strain may be a well-suited animal model for the study of vitamin C physiology and may prove to be a valuable model for the study of nutritional antioxidant (i.e. vitamins A and E) interactions.

Technical Abstract: Although the guinea pig has historically been utilized as the non-primate animal model of choice for research involving vitamin C metabolism, the size, fraility, feeding habits, and lack of readily accessible bleeding sites of the guinea pig has made this animal model less than optimal. In 1973, a new sub-line of the Wistar rat - the Osteogenic Disorder Shionogi (ODS) rat - had been reported to be an alternate, ascorbate-dependent animal model. In the current study, plasma vitamin C, E, and A levels were evaluated in ODS rats placed on an ascorbate deplete diet for 0-18 days. The authors demonstrated that plasma ascorbate levels were depressed in this strain of rats as early as 24 hours after withdrawal of dietary ascorbate. Eighteen days after ascorbate depletion, plasma ascorbate declined by 6.5 fold that of baseline levels. Vitamin A levels declined to 60% those of baseline values after 72 hours on depleted diet. No significant changes in Vitamin E levels were observed. The current work suggests that the ODS rat strain may be a well-suited animal model for the study of Vitamin C physiology and may prove to be a valuable model for the study of nutritional antioxidant (eg. Vitamin A, E) interactions.