The Metabolic Rate and Respiratory Quotients of Rats Following the Ingestion of Dextrin and during Fasting

Abstract

By maintaining male rats for some days at the environment under which the respiratory gas exchange is to be determined, the low basal rate of 718 Cals. per square meter per 24 hours was obtained. This basal value was reached in the 14th hour after feeding dextrin and maintained approximately constant for the 30 hours following. The hourly averages of the respiratory quotients after a dextrin feeding decrease rapidly to 0.744 at the 16th hour thereafter and slowly with several slight diurnal variations to 0.738 at the 43rd hour. The average respiratory quotient for the 38th to 44th hour inclusive is 0.733 uncorrected or 0.722 if corrected for protein metabolism. The conditions under which these gas exchange studies were carried out are uniform and reproducible as regards temperature, light, previous environment, and reserve of metabolites.