Galactose metabolism in male and female rats. I. Blood and urinary differences.

When rats consumed a well-balanced diet containing 30% lactose or 30% glucose-galactose mixture, some differences of metabolic utilization arose between males and females. With lactose, the urinary excretion of lactose, galactose and galactitol was higher in females. With the glucose-galactose mixture, galactosury and galactitolury in males and females increased and were similar; but galactosaemia and galactitolaemia were more important in females.