TORPOR IN LACTATING SIBERIAN HAMSTERS SUBJECTED TO GLUCOPRIVATION

Daily torpor has never been reported for any rodent species during lac tation. To test whether torpor and lactation are incompatible processe s, we administered 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG), a glucose analog that int erferes with cellular glycolysis, to Siberian hamsters during the 2nd wk postpartum. 2-DG (2,500 mg/kg of body mass) induced torpor in lacta ting as well as nonlactating females. Although depth of torpor did not differ between groups, duration of torpor tended to be shorter in lac tating animals. Evidence of new milk bands suggests that pups were abl e to obtain milk from torpid darns. By contrast, dams subjected either to a combination of brief food deprivation and subsequent food restri ction or just food restriction failed to display torpor, but instead c annibalized one or more pups. We conclude that torpor is possible duri ng lactation; whether lactating dams in nature become torpid in respon se to energy shortages or cannibalize or abandon one or more of their offspring remains unknown.