Effects of the stress of sampling and of anaesthesia on the metabolic status of suckling rabbits

Abstract The stress of anaesthesia and of sampling on the concentrations of blood metabolites and tissue glycogen content was studied in awake, anaesthetized and decapitated young rabbits 1-2 days old ("young") and 17-18 days old ("old"), 24 h after the last controlled suckling. Stress of sampling and anaesthesia was particularly evidenced by high blood lactate observed for the three protocols in young rabbits and to a lesser extent in old animals. Decapitation appeared as the less aggressive procedure for blood lactate assessement in « young » and « old » rabbits. In « young » rabbits, blood glucose was not significantly modified by the mode of blood sampling while in « old » rabbits blood glucose was significantly lower in awake than in anaesthetized animals. Muscle and liver glycogen content data were not significantly different between the three protocols in old and young rabbits. From a comparison of these results with those found in adult animals in various species, it appears that blood puncture in awake « young » and « old » rabbits is a suitable procedure for determining the majority of blood metabolites except lactate in « young » animals.