Establishment of a method to measure rat¬ðs defecating time by feeding black rice instead of infusing liquid ink

    XIE Jiaª²Qi, YU Pu, ZHANG Kun, DAI Jingª²Yao, LIU Liª²Bing

    Squadron Twelve, Squadron Thirteen, Cadet Brigade, Center of Teaching & Experiment, School of Basic Medicine, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi¬ðan 710033, China

    ¡¾Abstract¡¿ AIM: To establish a new method to measure the rat¬ðs defecating time by feeding black rice, instead of the traditional one, infusing liquid ink. METHODS: Ten SD rats were randomly divided into 2 groups: group A given liquid ink infusion; group B fed with black rice. The time since taking the treatment to the first defecating and the number, the color of feces in 6 h were measured. RESULTS: The defecating times of the 2 groups had no significant difference(475.0¡À55.4 vs 524.2¡À22.6, P>0.05), so did the number of feces in 6 h(11.8¡À2.2 vs 9.8¡À3.0, P>0.05). The feces of group B were black enough to be identified from the ones of group A. and the group B¬ðs feces had a more uniform color. CONCLUSION: Feeding black rice may be considered as a potential method to measure defecating time instead of the infusion of liquid ink. ......