Reference values for young normal Sprague-Dawley rats: weight gain, hematology and clinical chemistry

1 Arterial blood from 63 male (315 - 500 g) and 60 female (210 - 290 g) healthy Sprague-Dawley rats was ana lyzed for 16 hematological and 22 clinical chemistry parameters. 2 Nine of these parameters were associated with growth and developmental changes in males between 38 - 78 days and females 49 - 89 days of age. 3 Weight gain in both sexes followed patterns consistent with other studies using this strain, but interexperi mental variation was as much as ± 22%. 4 Rectal temperatures of females averaged 37.28°C, being statistically greater (P < 0.05) than the average male at 36.99°C. 5 The data provide reference values for use in toxicolo gical and other investigations.