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Information Resources on the Care and Welfare of Rodents

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Welfare/Wellbeing/Fasting/Behavior

Abramsky, Z., M.L. Rosenweig, and A. Subach (1998). Do gerbils care more about competition or predation? Oikos 83(1): 75-84. ISSN: 0030-1299.
Descriptors: gerbils, owls, predator prey relations, habitats, experimentation, biological competition, Israel, Asia, birds, ecosystems, mammals, predation, Rodentia, Strigiformes, western Asia.

Aikey, J.L., J.G. Nyby, D.M. Anmuth, and P.J. James (2002). Testosterone rapidly reduces anxiety in male house mice (Mus musculus). Hormones and Behavior 42(4): 448-460. ISSN: 0018-506X.
Descriptors: testosterone, anxiety, mating behavior, gamma aminobutyric acid receptors, Mus musculus.

Ajarem, J. and M. Ahmad (2003). Effect of temperature on the behavioural activities of male mice. Dirasat Pure Sciences 30(1): 59-65. ISSN: 1560-456x.
Abstract: The effect of external thermal stress on the behavioural activities and on the tube restraint test was studied on male albino mice. The mice were subjected to 5, 15, 25, 35, and 45 degrees C, for 24 h considering 22 degrees C as the control temperature. Thereafter, the various observations were made inside a chamber at the specifically mentioned temperature. The locomotory activities including the numbers of squares crossed, rears, wall rears, and washes had direct correlations with thermal stresses. These activities decreased at lower and increased at higher temperatures. Moreover, these activities had a correlation with the observations on the locomotory and immobility durations. Locomotory and immobility durations were directly and inversely related to temperature, respectively. The animals in the tube restraint test also showed a direct correlation between the number of bites and temperature. These observations were discussed in light of the fact that behaviour was remarkably a sensitive mechanism in the regulation of body temperature. The possible role of such behavioural activities in a quest to maintain normothermia by the animal was discussed.
Descriptors: animal behavior, body temperature, heat stress, locomotion, temperature, mice, normothermia.
Language of Text: Arabic summary.

Allen, D.L., B.C. Harrison, A. Maass, M.L. Bell, W.C. Byrnes, and L.A. Leinwand (2001). Cardiac and skeletal muscle adaptations to voluntary wheel running in the mouse. Journal of Applied Physiology 90(5): 1900-8. ISSN: 8750-7587.
Abstract: In this paper, we describe the effects of voluntary cage wheel exercise on mouse cardiac and skeletal muscle. Inbred male C57/Bl6 mice (age 6-8 wk; n = 12) [corrected] ran an average of 4.3 h/24 h, for an average distance of 6.8 km/24 h, and at an average speed of 26.4 m/min. A significant increase in the ratio of heart mass to body mass (mg/g) was evident after 2 wk of voluntary exercise, and cardiac atrial natriuretic factor and brain natriuretic peptide mRNA levels were significantly increased in the ventricles after 4 wk of voluntary exercise. A significant increase in the percentage of fibers expressing myosin heavy chain (MHC) IIa was observed in both the gastrocnemius and the tibialis anterior (TA) by 2 wk, and a significant decrease in the percentage of fibers expressing IIb MHC was evident in both muscles after 4 wk of voluntary exercise. The TA muscle showed a greater increase in the percentage of IIa MHC-expressing fibers than did the gastrocnemius muscle (40 and 20%, respectively, compared with 10% for nonexercised). Finally, the number of oxidative fibers as revealed by NADH-tetrazolium reductase histochemical staining was increased in the TA but not the gastrocnemius after 4 wk of voluntary exercise. All results are relative to age-matched mice housed without access to running wheels. Together these data demonstrate that voluntary exercise in mice results in cardiac and skeletal muscle adaptations consistent with endurance exercise.
Descriptors: acclimatization, heart physiology, motor activity physiology, muscle, skeletal physiology, physical conditioning, animal physiology, body weight, heart anatomy and histology, mice, inbred C57Bl6 mice, muscle fibers, fast twitch cytology, fast twitch physiology, slow twitch cytology, slow twitch physiology, skeletal anatomy and histology, myosin heavy chains analysis, NADH-tetrazolium reductase analysis, organ size.

Aloisi, A.M., I. Ceccarelli, and C. Lupo (1998). Behavioural and hormonal effects of restraint stress and formalin test in male and female rats. Brain Research Bulletin 47(1): 57-62. ISSN: 0361-9230.
Abstract: The formalin test was used to measure the analgesia induced by restraint in male and female rats. Animals were restrained for 30 min or left undisturbed in their cage and then (1) killed immediately to collect blood for hormonal determinations; or (2) subcutaneously injected with formalin in the hind paw (or sham-injected), introduced to an open field for recording of behaviour, and killed at the end of this procedure. In both experiments, corticosterone was found to be higher in females. In Experiment 1, the ability of restraint to be stressful was confirmed by the increase in corticosterone in both sexes and by the decrease of testosterone in males. In Experiment 2, restraint-treatment induced a reduction in licking and flexing that was limited to the second phase. The reduction occurred in different periods and to a different degree in the two sexes; it was greater in females. Spontaneous behaviours showed sex differences in restraint-treated but not in formalin-treated animals. The results show that the hormonal effects observed after restraint are not present after the formalin test and that the marked analgesia observed with phasic painful stimuli does not occur with a longer-lasting one such as that induced by formalin, after which only partial and short-lasting effects were observed.
Descriptors: behavior, animal physiology, hormones physiology, stress, psychological physiopathology, analysis of variance, corticosterone physiology, estradiol physiology, pain physiopathology, pain measurement, Wistar rats, restraint, physical, testosterone physiology.

Amiri, L., T. Dark, K.M. Noce, and C.L. Kirstein (1998). Odor preferences in neonatal and weanling rats. Developmental Psychobiology 33(2): 157-62. ISSN: 0012-1630.
Abstract: In order to establish odors which can be used in appetitive and aversive conditioning paradigms, naive rat pups, postnatal day 7 (i.e., PND 7) and weanlings (PND 25), were placed in a rectangular open field with an odorant at one or both ends. Time spent over each odor was measured for 3 min. At both ages subjects avoided peppermint, orange, and lemon odors in favor of fresh home-cage bedding. Comparing any of these three odorants with each other resulted in no significant differences in preferences. In experiments using banana odorant, equal time was spent between banana and no odorant. However, in a two-odorant choice between banana and peppermint, weanlings preferred banana whereas pups showed no preference. The results of this study indicate that in an appetitive learning paradigm, peppermint, orange, or lemon odors may be used, while in aversive learning paradigms banana odor may be more appropriate for weanlings.
Descriptors: odors, orientation physiology, rats, Sprague Dawley rats growth and development, Sprague Dawley rats psychology, reinforcement psychology, smell physiology, age factors, analysis of variance, animals, newborn growth and development, animals, newborn psychology, citrus, Mentha piperita, plant extracts, sex factors, weaning, Zingiberales.

Andrade, C.S. and F.S. Guimaraes (2003). Anxiolytic-like effect of group housing on stress-induced behavior in rats. Depression and Anxiety 18(3): 149-52. ISSN: 1091-4269.
Descriptors: anti anxiety agents pharmacology, behavior, animal drug effects, diazepam pharmacology, social behavior, stress psychology, anti anxiety agents administration and dosage, diazepam administration and dosage, rats, Wistar rats.

Aoyama, K. (1997). Satiation effect on within-session changes in rat feeding behavior. Japanese Journal of Animal Psychology 47(1): 37-45.
Descriptors: rat, feeding behavior, satiation, effect, within session changes.

Arakawa, H. (2005). Age dependent effects of space limitation and social tension on open-field behavior in male rats. Physiology and Behavior 84(3): 429-436. ISSN: 0031-9384.
Abstract: Cage stocking density can be manipulated by changing in cage size and group size in the cage. The effects of these two factors were investigated in three developmental stages in male rats: juvenile, post-pubertal, and adult. An open-field test was conducted to measure exploratory behavior which was influenced by levels of activity, anxiety, and exploration. When the cage size was decreased, juvenile rats displayed decreased locomotion and lower propensity for exploration, whereas such changes were not evident in post-pubertal rats. When the group size was increased, adult rats exhibited higher locomotion. However, these factors did not affect risk assessment behavior of rats in these developmental stages. Thus, it appears that the effect of stocking density differs depending on the developmental stage of the animal: Juvenile rats increased anxiety following limiting space, whereas adult rats increased activity following increase in social tension.
Descriptors: male rats, space limitation, effects, age, social tension, density, behavior, group size.

Augustsson, H., K. Dahlborn, and B.J. Meyerson (2005). Exploration and risk assessment in female wild house mice (Mus musculus musculus) and two laboratory strains. Physiology and Behavior 84(2): 265-277. ISSN: 0031-9384.
Abstract: In an evolutionary prospective, it is possible that female mice have a differential perception of novel events than male mice and use a different behavioural strategy for risk assessment. However, female mice are less studied than male mice in behavioural tests of emotional reactivity. The aim of the present study was to investigate how wild-derived female house mice differ from domesticated female mice in their risk assessment strategy. A total of 46 adult female mice, 14 BALB/c, 16 C57BL/6 and 14 Wild mice were tested in the Concentric Square Field (CSF), Open Field (OF) and Elevated Plus Maze (EPM) at three consecutive days. Parameters from all three tests were categorized according to their relevance to activity, exploration, approach-avoidance and use of open areas-shelter. Principal Component Analysis (PCA-SIMCA) of the animals' behaviour in the CSF arena was performed both for females alone and in comparison with earlier findings in male mice under the same test conditions. The results clearly show that female wild mice had a higher avoidance of open areas than the laboratory strains. There was also a trend indicating differences in exploration and approach-avoidance between female Wild and the laboratory strains. The multivariate test, CSF, was able to detect differences between Wild and laboratory strains in three (exploration, approach-avoidance, open-shelter) of the four functional categories measured. Wild female mice also had a higher frequency of rearing and grooming and a lower duration in the corridors in the CSF. Clear strain differences were found between BALB and C57BL in all tests where BALB generally had higher risk assessment and lower risk taking than C57BL. No general sex differences were found, however the sex differences were greater in Wild mice compared to the laboratory strains.
Descriptors: exploratory behavior, risk assessment, domestication, sex differences, evolution, emotional behavior, avoidance behavior, open field behavior, Mus musculus musculus, mice, strains difference.

Augustsson, H. and B.J. Meyerson (2004). Exploration and risk assessment: a comparative study of male house mice (Mus musculus musculus) and two laboratory strains. Physiology and Behavior 81(4): 685-698. ISSN: 0031-9384.
Abstract: The ability to gather information and assess risks in novel environments is crucial for survival and fitness in the wild. Our aim was to characterise behavioural strategies of exploration and risk assessment in novel environments and to investigate in what respects wild house mice differ from domesticated mice. A total of 39 adult male mice from three genetic backgrounds (Wild, BALB/c, and C57BL/6) were tested in three behavioural tests, the concentric square field (CSF), a modified open field (OF), and a conventional elevated plus maze (EPM). In addition to spatial measures, behavioural measures of exploration and risk assessment were registered. The parameters were categorised according to their relevance to activity, exploration, approach-avoidance, and use of open areas/shelter. Wild mice had lower activity and a higher avoidance of open areas than the laboratory strains. No differences were found in exploratory motivation. The BALB/c mice avoided risk areas and showed high risk assessment (SAP), whereas C57BL/6 mice were more explorative and risk taking and showed little risk assessment. Wild mice seemed to have a different behavioural strategy of risk assessment in being more cautious before entering a potentially dangerous zone but explored all zones after assessed as nonrisky. A principal component analysis (PCA) of the animals' behaviour in the CSF arena supported these findings by clearly separating the three strains on the basis of their behavioural performances. It is concluded that there are obvious differences in behavioural strategies related to risk assessment and risk taking among wild mice versus domesticated house mice and also among laboratory strains. The relationship between the animal's risk concern and adaptability is discussed and should be a matter of importance considering animal welfare as well as the experimental aim and protocol.
Descriptors: exploratory behavior, risk assessment, novelty, open field behavior, domestication, adaptiveness, Mus musculus musculus, principle component analysis, strain differences.

Bae, H.H., J.E. Larkin, and I. Zucker (2003). Juvenile Siberian hamsters display torpor and modified locomotor activity and body temperature rhythms in response to reduced food availability. Physiological and Biochemical Zoology 76(6): 858-867. ISSN: 1522-2152.
Abstract: Siberian hamsters as young as 16 and 28 d displayed torpor in response to treatment with 2,500 mg/kg 2-deoxy-D-glucose and reduced food availability, respectively. In addition, most food-restricted hamsters displayed increased locomotor activity and elevated body temperatures in the 3 h immediately preceding daily food delivery. This anticipatory activity disappeared within a few days of reimposition of ad lib. feeding. Torpor first appeared spontaneously at ~13 wk of age in hamsters fed ad lib. and maintained in short day lengths. The onset of this "spontaneous" torpor was unaffected by the hamsters' history of food restriction before age 2 mo. Siberian hamsters born late in the breeding season can conserve energy by undergoing torpor immediately after weaning when they contend with food shortages and concurrent energetic challenges imposed by growth requirements and low ambient temperatures.
Descriptors: body temperature, locomotion, plane of nutrition, restricted feeding, thermoregulation, torpor, hamsters.

Bales, K.L. and C.S. Carter (2002). Oxytocin facilitates parental care in female prairie voles (but not in males). Society for NeuroScience Abstract Viewer and Itinerary Planner: Abstract No. 89.3.
Online: http://sfn.scholarone.com
Descriptors: prairie voles, female, parental care, behavior, oxytocin, parturition, estrogen, huddling, grooming, oxytocin antagonist.
Notes: Meeting Information: 32nd Annual Meeting of the Society of Neuroscience, November 02-07, 2002, Orlando, Florida, USA.

Baracat, E.C.E. and E.F. Collares (1997). Gastric emptying of liquids in rats dehydrated by water deprivation. Brazilian Journal of Medical and Biological Research 30(11): 1363-1369. ISSN: 0100-879X.
Descriptors: rats, liquids, gastric emptying, dehydrated, water deprivation, hematocrit, plasma density, duodenal mucosa, receptors.

Barclay, R. (2001). The effects of intrusion on the behaviour of caged laboratory rats (Rattus norvegicus): consequences for welfare. Animal Welfare 10(4): 421-436. ISSN: 0962-7286.
NAL Call Number: HV4701.A557
Descriptors: rats, laboratory mammals, aggressive behavior, territoriality, cages, social dominance, social behavior, grooming, body weight, male animals, female animals, sex differences, investigatory behavior.

Bartness, T.J. (1997). Food hoarding is increased by pregnancy, lactation, and food deprivation in Siberian hamsters. American Journal of Physiology 272(1, Part 2): R118-R125. ISSN: 0002-9513.
NAL Call Number: 447.8 Am3
Descriptors: food hoarding, increased, pregnancy, lactation, food deprivation, Siberian hamsters.

Bartolomucci, A., P. Palanza, P. Sacerdote, G. Ceresini, A. Chirieleison, A.E. Panerai, and S. Parmigiani (2003). Individual housing induces altered immuno-endocrine responses to psychological stress in male mice. Psychoneuroendocrinology 28(4): 540-58. ISSN: 0306-4530.
Abstract: Social isolation and lack of social support have deleterious effects on health, thus being regarded as one of the most relevant causes of diseases in human and other mammalian species. However, only few are the studies aimed at evaluating the psychoneuroimmunological functions of individually housed subjects. The present study was designed to understand how the behavior and the physiology of male house mice might be affected by individual housing. We first analyzed whether individual housing of different duration (1-42 days) would result in immuno-endocrine dysfunction (experiment 1). Then we investigated whether housing conditions would affect the reaction to an acute mild psychological stress (experiments 2 and 3). There were three main findings: first, individually housing mice for increasing time periods did not induce any major immuno-endocrine effects compared to a stable sibling group housing. Therefore, prolonged isolation does not seem to dramatically impair mice immuno-endocrine functions. Second, when exposed to a mild acute stress, i.e. forced exposure to a novel environment, isolated mice showed higher basal corticosterone and lower type 1 (IL-2) and type 2 (IL-4) cytokines as well as splenocytes proliferation compared to group housed male mice. Finally, when faced with a free choice between a novel environment and their home cage, individually housed mice showed reduced neophobic responses resulting in increased exploration of the novel environment, thus suggesting a low anxiety profile. Altogether, our findings suggest that individual housing in itself does not change immunocompetence and corticosterone level, but does affect reactivity to a stressor. In fact, individually housed mice showed high behavioral arousal, as well as altered immuno-endocrine parameters, when challenged with mild psychological novelty-stress.
Descriptors: neuroimmunomodulation physiology, social isolation psychology, psychological immunology, stress, psychological psychology, adaptation, physiological physiology, body weight physiology, corticosterone blood, dominance subordination, endocrine system physiology, housing, animal, interferon type II blood, interleukin 10 blood, mice, social environment.

Bauer, D.J., T.J. Christenson, K.R. Clark, S.K. Powell, and R.A. Swain (2003). Acetaminophen as a postsurgical analgesic in rats: a practical solution to neophobia. Contemporary Topics in Laboratory Animal Science 42(2): 20-25. ISSN: 1060-0558.
NAL Call Number: SF405.5.A23
Descriptors: rats, laboratory animals, postoperative care, acetaminophen, analgesia, oral administration, drinking water, drinking, palatability, preoperative care, preanesthetic medication, body weight, feed intake, animal use refinement, veterinary drugs, water intake.

Baumans, V. and E. Kaliste (2004). The welfare of laboratory mice. In: E. Kaliste (Editor), The Welfare of Laboratory Animals, Animal Welfare, Vol. XIII, No. 2, Kluwer Academic: Dordrecht, Netherlands, p. 119-152. ISBN: 1402022700.
Descriptors: laboratory animals, mice, Mus musculus, animal welfare, animal experiments, mammals, Rodentia, useful animals.

Bazhan, N.M., E.N. Makarova, and T.V. Yakovleva (1996). Deprivation of food during pregnancy and reproduction in the water vole (Arvicola terrestris). Journal of Mammalogy 77(4): 1078-1084. ISSN: 0022-2372.
Descriptors: food deprivation, pregnancy, reproduction, water vole.

Beck, K.D. and V.N. Luine (1999). Food deprivation modulates chronic stress effects on object recognition in male rats: role of monoamines and amino acids. Brain Research 830(1): 56-71. ISSN: 0006-8993.
Descriptors: amino acids metabolism, biogenic monoamines metabolism, food deprivation, form perception physiology, memory physiology, stress physiopathology, amygdala metabolism, behavior, animal physiology, hippocampus metabolism, hydrocortisone blood, prefrontal cortex metabolism, rats, Sprague Dawley rats, weight gain.

Belke, T.W. and J.P. Wagner (2005). The reinforcing property and the rewarding aftereffect of wheel running in rats: a combination of two paradigms. Behavioural Processes 68(2): 165-172. ISSN: 0376-6357.
Abstract: Wheel running reinforces the behavior that generates it and produces a preference for the context that follows it. The goal of the present study was to demonstrate both of these effects in the same animals. Twelve male Wistar rats were first exposed to a fixed-interval 30s schedule of wheel-running reinforcement. The operant was lever-pressing and the reinforcer was the opportunity to run for 45s. Following this phase, the method of place conditioning was used to test for a rewarding aftereffect following operant sessions. On alternating days, half the rats responded for wheel-running reinforcement while the other half remained in their home cage. Upon completion of the wheel-running reinforcement sessions, rats that ran and rats that remained in their home cages were placed into a chamber of a conditioned place preference (CPP) apparatus for 30min. Each animal received six pairings of a distinctive context with wheel running and six pairings of a different context with their home cage. On the test day, animals were free to move between the chambers for 10min. Results showed a conditioned place preference for the context associated with wheel running; however, time spent in the context associated with running was not related to wheel-running rate, lever-pressing rate, or post-reinforcement pause duration.
Descriptors: wheel running, effect, rewarding, rats, reinforcing, behavior.

Bell, S.M., T.E. Thiele, R.J. Seeley, I.L. Bernstein, and S.C. Woods (1998). Effects of food deprivation on conditioned taste aversions in rats. Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior 60(2): 459-466. ISSN: 0091-3057.
Descriptors: food, deprivation, taste aversion, rats, effects.

Belz, E.E., J.S. Kennell, R.K. Czambel, R.T. Rubin, and M.E. Rhodes (2003). Environmental enrichment lowers stress-responsive hormones in singly housed male and female rats. Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behavior 76(3-4): 481-6. ISSN: 0091-3057.
Abstract: Structural and social aspects of an environmental system can influence the physiology and behavior of animals occupying that system. This study examined the physiological effects of environmental enrichment (EE) with Kong Toys and Nestlets on stress-responsive hormones of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis under basal and mild stress conditions in singly housed, jugular vein-cannulated, male and female rats. Animals of both sexes housed with EE had significantly lower baseline adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and corticosterone (CORT) concentrations compared to those housed without EE. ACTH responses to the mild stress of saline injection were significantly lower in female rats housed with EE. Interaction with the Kong Toys and Nestlets appears to have provided the rats with a diversion from monotonous cage life, resulting in lower HPA axis activity before and after mild stress. These results are important because low, stable baselines are essential for accurately discerning pharmacological and other influences on the HPA axis.
Descriptors: environment, hormones metabolism, stress, psychological metabolism, corticotropin blood, dose response relationship, drug, hydrocortisone blood, hypothalamo hypophyseal system physiology, play and playthings, rats, Sprague Dawley rats, sex characteristics, social isolation.

Benaroya Milshtein, N., N. Hollander, A. Apter, T. Kukulansky, N. Raz, A. Wilf, I. Yaniv, and C.G. Pick (2004). Environmental enrichment in mice decreases anxiety, attenuates stress responses and enhances natural killer cell activity. European Journal of Neuroscience 20(5): 1341-7. ISSN: 0953-816X.
Abstract: The importance of environment in the regulation of brain, behaviour and physiology has long been recognized in biological, social and medical sciences. Animals maintained under enriched conditions have clearly been shown to have better learning abilities than those maintained under standard conditions. However, the effects of environmental enrichment (EE) on immunity and emotionality have been less documented and remain questionable. Therefore, we investigated the effect of EE on natural killer (NK) cell activity, psychological stress responses and behavioural parameters. Male C3H mice were housed either in enriched or standard conditions for 6 weeks. Behaviour was then examined by the grip-strength test, staircase and elevated plus maze, and corticosterone levels and NK cell activity were measured. Furthermore, animals exposed to the stress paradigm, achieved by electric shock with reminders, were tested for freezing time in each reminder. Corticosterone levels were also measured. The EE mice showed decreased anxiety-like behaviour and higher activity compared to standard mice, as revealed by a greater percentage of time spent in the open arms of the elevated plus maze, and a higher rate of climbing the staircase. A shorter freezing time in the stress paradigm and no corticosterone level reactivity were measured in EE mice. In addition, NK cell activity in spleens of EE mice was higher than that demonstrated in those of standard mice. Thus, EE has a beneficial effect on anxiety-like behaviour, stress response and NK cell activity. The effect on NK cell activity is promising, due to the role of NK cells in host resistance.
Descriptors: anxiety immunology, behavior, animal, cytotoxicity, immunologic physiology, environment, killer cells, natural immunology, stress, psychological immunology, corticosterone blood, mice, inbred C3H mice.

Bertin, R., F. De Marco, and R. Portet (1997). Effects of fasting and refeeding on energetic metabolism of cold acclimated rats. Archives of Physiology and Biochemistry 105(5): 511-515. ISSN: 1381-3455.
Descriptors: cold acclimated rats, fasting, refeeding, energetic metabolism, effects, adipose tissue, weights, thermogenesis.

Bohannon, J. (2002). Animal models. To build a better mouse cage. Science 298(5602): 2321. ISSN: 1095-9203.
Descriptors: laboratory animals, animal behavior, animal housing, mice, animal experimentation, environment, social behavior.

Bouwknecht, J.A. and R. Paylor (2002). Behavioral and physiological mouse assays for anxiety: a survey in nine mouse strains. Behavioural Brain Research 136(2): 489-501. ISSN: 0166-4328.
Descriptors: anxiety genetics, anxiety psychology, behavior, animal physiology, body temperature physiology, darkness, exploratory behavior physiology, fever genetics, fever physiopathology, light, mice, inbred mice strains, reproducibility of results, species specificity, stress, psychological genetics, psychological physiopathology, psychological psychology.

Boza, J.J., D. Moennoz, J. Vuichoud, A.R. Jarret, D. De Weck Gaudard, R. Fritsche, A. Donnet, E.J. Schiffrin, G. Perruisseau, and O. Ballevre (1999). Food deprivation and refeeding influence growth, nutrient retention and functional recovery of rats. Journal of Nutrition 129(7): 1340-1346. ISSN: 0022-3166.
NAL Call Number: 389.8 J82
Descriptors: food deprivation, refeeding, growth, nutrient retention, functional recovery, rats.

Bozinovic, F. (1997). Diet selection in rodents: an experimental test of the effect of dietary fiber and tannins on feeding behavior. Revista Chilena De Historia Natural 70(1): 67-71.
Descriptors: diet, rodents, selection, dietary fiber, effect, feeding behavior.

Buckley, C. and J.E. Schneider (2003). Food hoarding is increased by food deprivation and decreased by leptin treatment in Syrian hamsters. American Journal of Physiology 285(5, Part 2): R1021-R1029. ISSN: 0002-9513.
NAL Call Number: 447.8 Am3
Descriptors: Syrian hamsters, food hoarding, food deprivation, leptin treatment, food intake, increase, decrease.

Buison, A., M. Pellizzon, S. Fried, and K.L.C. Jen (1997). Body weight gain after food deprivation depends on baseline plasma leptin levels in rats. FASEB Journal 11(3): A230. ISSN: 0892-6638.
Descriptors: body weight, weight gain, food deprivation, baseline plasma leptin levels, rats.
Notes: Meeting Information: Annual Meeting of the Professional Research Scientists on Experimental Biology 97, April 6-9, 1997, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.

Burda, H., S. Begall, O. Gruetjen, A. Scharff, E. Nevo, A. Beiles, J. Cerveny, and K. Prucha (1999). How to eat a carrot? Convergence in the feeding behavior of subterranean rodents. Naturwissenschaften 86(7): 325-327.
Descriptors: carrot, eat, behavior, feeding, rodents, subterranean.

Burghardt, P.R., L.J. Fulk, G.A. Hand, and M.A. Wilson (2004). The effects of chronic treadmill and wheel running on behavior in rats. Brain Research 1019(1-2): 84-96. ISSN: 0006-8993.
Abstract: In order to better understand the behavioral adaptations induced by physical activity, this set of experiments assessed the effects of two modes of running exercise on a battery of behavioral tests. The effects of 8 weeks of forced treadmill running and voluntary wheel running on behavior measures in the elevated plus maze, open field, social interaction and conditioned freezing paradigms were investigated. Eight weeks of treadmill running did not alter behavior in any test paradigm. Rats given unrestricted access to running wheels (WR) had a lower percent open arm time (6.0+/-2.3%) compared to locked wheel controls (LC) (20.7+/-5.7%) in the elevated plus maze. WR also showed decreased entries into center (0.2+/-0.2) and crossed fewer lines (61.0+/-14.9) in the open field compared to control groups. Both WR and LC groups showed increased social interaction; however, these differences are attributed to housing conditions. The effects of 4 weeks of wheel running on elevated plus maze and open field behavior were also investigated to address the possibility of a temporal effect of exercise on behavior. Four weeks of wheel running produced behavioral changes in the open field similar to those found at 8 weeks, but not in the elevated plus maze suggesting a temporal effect of wheel running on plus maze behavior. The behavioral adaptations found after 4 and 8 weeks of wheel running were not due solely to enriched environment and appear to be indicative of enhanced defensive behavior.
Descriptors: exercise test methods, exploratory behavior physiology, interpersonal relations, maze learning physiology, motor activity physiology, exercise test instrumentation, rats, Sprague Dawley rats, time factors.

Buwalda, B., W.A.M. Blom, J.M. Koolhaas, and G. Van Dijk (2001). Behavioral and physiological responses to stress are affected by high-fat feeding in male rats. Physiology and Behavior 73(3): 371-377. ISSN: 0031-9384.
Descriptors: rats, males, high fat feeding, stress, behavior, physiology, response, affected, body temperature.

Caldwell, H.K. and H.E. Albers (2004). Effect of photoperiod on vasopressin-induced aggression in Syrian hamsters. Hormones and Behavior 46(4): 444-9. ISSN: 0018-506X.
Abstract: Syrian hamsters are photoperiodic and become sexually quiescent when exposed to short "winter-like" photoperiods. In short photoperiods, male hamsters display significantly higher levels of aggression than males housed in long photoperiods. Arginine-vasopressin (AVP) within the anterior hypothalamus (AH) has been reported to modulate aggression in hamsters housed in long photoperiods. Previous studies have shown that AVP can facilitate aggression and its effects appear to be mediated by AVP V(1a) receptors (V(1a)R). In the present study, we investigated whether the increased levels of aggression observed after exposure to short photoperiod were the result of an increased responsiveness to AVP within the AH. Injections of AVP into the AH significantly increased aggression in hamsters housed in a long photoperiod, but had no effect in hamsters housed in a short photoperiod. In addition, injection of a V(1a)R antagonist into the AH significantly inhibited aggression in hamsters housed in long photoperiod, but had no effect in hamsters housed in a short photoperiod. These findings indicate that AVP within the AH increases aggression in hamsters housed in long photoperiods, but not in hamsters housed in short photoperiods.
Descriptors: Syrian hamsters, aggression physiology, argipressin analogs, derivatives, physiology, hypothalamus physiology, photoperiod, argipressin administration and dosage, hamsters, hormone antagonists pharmacology, hypothalamus drug effects, mesocricetus, microinjections, receptors, vasopressin antagonists and inhibitors.

Callard, M.D., S.N. Bursten, and E.O. Price (2000). Repetitive backflipping behaviour in captive roof rats (Rattus rattus) and the effects of cage enrichment. Animal Welfare 9(2): 139-152. ISSN: 0962-7286.
NAL Call Number: HV4701.A557
Descriptors: rats, abnormal behavior, weaning, age differences, cage size, cages, sex differences, individual characteristics, circadian rhythm, fearfulness, stereotyped behavior, nest boxes.

Cannizzaro, C., M. La Barbera, F. Plescia, R. Contino, G. Santodonato, M. Gagliano, and E. Cannizzaro (2003). Effects of prenatal acute stress on the behavioural reactivity in handled and non-handled rat progeny. Society for NeuroScience Abstract Viewer and Itinerary Planner: Abstract No. 660.7.
Online: http://sfn.scholarone.com
Descriptors: rat progeny, acute stress, prenatal, handling, behavior, activity, psychological stimuli, stress exposure, adaptive responses.
Notes: Meeting Information: 33rd Annual Meeting of the Society of Neuroscience, November 08-12, 2003, New Orleans, LA, USA.

Caston, J., B. Devulder, F. Jouen, R. Lalonde, N. Delhaye Bouchaud, and J. Mariani (1999). Role of an enriched environment on the restoration of behavioral deficits in Lurcher mutant mice. Developmental Psychobiology 35(4): 291-303. ISSN: 0012-1630.
Descriptors: behavior, animal physiology, cerebellar diseases pathology, environment, mice, mutant strains physiology, nerve degeneration pathology, maze learning, mice, nerve fibers physiology, synapses physiology.

Castro Chaves, C., A.F. Soares, and R.C. Santiago (1989). Dietary deprivation of essential fatty acids impairs rat renal function. Journal of the American Society of Nephrology 9: 32A.
Descriptors: rat, renal function, impaired, diet, deprivation, fatty acids.
Notes: Meeting Information: 31st Annual Meeting of the American Society of Nephrology, October 25-28, 1998, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. Program and Abstract Issue.

Champagne, F.A., D.D. Francis, A. Mar, and M.J. Meaney (2003). Variations in maternal care in the rat as a mediating influence for the effects of environment on development. Physiology and Behavior 79(3): 359-71. ISSN: 0031-9384.
Abstract: Variations in maternal care have been widely considered as a critical influence in development. In the rat, variations in maternal behavior, particularly in licking/grooming, regulate the development of endocrine, emotional and cognitive responses to stress. These studies form the basis of a potentially useful model for the study of maternal effects in mammals. In this paper we provide a detailed methodological investigation into this model of maternal behavior, providing an analysis of the frequency, temporal dynamics, and transmission of maternal licking/grooming in several large cohorts. Frequency data indicate that licking/grooming is normally distributed across dams. The peak in licking/grooming occurs in the first few days postpartum and gradually declines. Dams designated as High or Low LG mothers differ in this behavior only during the first week postpartum. Observations over Days 2 to 5 postpartum are essential for the reliable assessments of individual differences in maternal behavior. Individual differences in licking/grooming behavior are stable across multiple litters, and are not associated with differences in litter size, weaning weight of pups, or gender ratio of the litter. We also observed no significant differences in the amount of licking/grooming received by individual pups within a litter, though variation does exist. Finally, maternal licking/grooming is transmitted to female offspring, though there is considerable within-litter variation in the expression of this behavior. Overall, these findings indicate considerable, normal variations in licking/grooming in the rat that are a stable, individual characteristic of rat dams.
Descriptors: grooming, individuality, lactation psychology, maternal behavior psychology, phenotype, adaptation, physiological, imprinting psychology, litter size, models, animal, Long Evans rats, sex factors.

Chaouloff, F., O. Berton, S. Aquerre, M. Hay, and P. Mormede (1997). Effects of food deprivation on midbrain 5-HT1A autoreceptors in Lewis and SHR rats. Neuropharmacology 36(4-5): 483-488.
Descriptors: food deprivation, effects, Lewis rats, SHR rats, midbrain, autoreceptors.

Chignola, R., C. Rizzi, S. Vincenzi, T. Cestari, N. Brutti, A.P. Riviera, S. Sartoris, A.D.B. Peruffo, and G. Andrighetto (2002). Effects of dietary wheat germ deprivation on the immune system in Wistarrats: a pilot study. International Immunopharmacology 2(10): 1495-1501. ISSN: 1567-5769.
Descriptors: Wistar rats, pilot study, diet, wheat germ deprivation, effects, immune system, bioactive molecules, gastrointestinal tract.

Chwalibog, A., K. Jakobsen, A.H. Tauson, and G. Thorbek (1998). Heat production and substrate oxidation in rats fed at maintenance level and during fasting. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology, Part A, Molecular and Integrative Physiology 121a(4): 423-429. ISSN: 1095-6433.
NAL Call Number: QP1.C6
Abstract: A total of 36 Wistar rats were fed a commercial diet to a stipulated live weight of 75 g (Group A), 100 g (Group B) and 225 g (Group C). All rats were measured in energy balance experiments, in which the animals were fed near maintenance level, followed by a period of fasting with measurements of the gas exchange. The rats in Group A, B and C were fasted for 2, 3 and 4 days, respectively. The minimum heat production on the last day of fasting for all groups was proportional to metabolic body weight (kg0.75) with a regression: heat production, kJ day(-1) = 321 x kg0.75 (R2 = 0.994). In rats fed near maintenance level, heat production was provided by oxidation of carbohydrates in 80-85%, oxidation of protein was 10-15%, while oxidation of fat contributed less than 10%. It is suggested that in the fasting period, the contribution to the total heat production from oxidized carbohydrate and fat depended on the size of the fat depots, a large fat depot giving rise to fat oxidation. On the last day of fasting, 24, 51 and 90% of the total heat originated from fat oxidation in Group A, B and C, respectively.
Descriptors: rats, heat, oxidation, underfeeding, diet, chemical reactions, feeding, temperature.

Clark Jr., J.A., P.H. Myers, M.F. Goelz, J.E. Thigpen, and D.B. Forsythe (1997). Pica behavior associated with buprenorphine administration in the rat. Laboratory Animal Science 47(3): 300-303. ISSN: 0023-6764.
NAL Call Number: 410.9 P94
Abstract: Marked gastric distention was observed in rats 20 h after they underwent partial hepatectomy under isoflurane anesthesia and received buprenorphine (0-3 mg/kg of body weight) after surgery. Hardwood bedding comprised the bulk of the gastric contents. A study was undertaken to determine the cause of the pica behavior (consumption of non-nutritive substances) and resultant gastric distention. Ten-week-old male Sprague Dawley rats were randomly assigned to one of six groups. Group-1 rats (n = 11) underwent laparotomy under isoflurane anesthesia, with buprenorphine (0.03 mg/kg) administered after surgery. Group-2 rats (n = 12) underwent laparotomy under isoflurane anesthesia, with buprenorphine (0.05 mg/kg) administered after surgery. Group-3 rats (n = 24) underwent laparotomy under isoflurane anesthesia, with saline administered after surgery. Isoflurane was administered at the same rate, concentration, and duration for all groups that underwent laparotomy (groups 1 to 3). Buprenorphine or saline was administered subcutaneously as a single injection when anesthesia was discontinued (groups 1 to 3). Group-4 rats (n = 6) received buprenorphine (0.3 mg/kg) only. Group-5 rats (n = 6) received buprenorphine (0.05 mg/kg) only. Group-6 rats (n = 12) received saline only. Rats not undergoing laparotomy (groups 4 to 6) received buprenorphine or saline 18 to 20 h before euthanasia. Rats were housed individually in filter-topped polycarbonate cages containing hardwood bedding. A purified, pelleted diet and water were offered ad libitum. Food and water consumption were measured over the posttreatment period. Eighteen to 20 h after treatment, rats were euthanized, each stomach and its contents were weighed, contents. were examined grossly, and wet and dry gastric content weights were recorded. All weights were significantly (P <0.05) increased in rats receiving buprenorphine administered after surgery (groups 1 and 2), compared with rats of the control group (group 3). Weights of the stomach and contents, wet gastric contents, and dry gastric contents were significantly (P <0.05) increased in rats receiving 0.3 mg of buprenorphine/kg only (group 4), compared with values for their controls (group 6). Hardwood bedding comprised the bulk of the gastric contents in all groups receiving buprenorphine. Stomachs of rats not receiving buprenorphine contained the purified diet with little or no hardwood bedding. These results indicate that a single injection of buprenorphine at a dosage of 0.05 or 0.3 mg/kg resulted in rats ingesting hardwood bedding, leading to gastric distention. It was concluded that pica behavior associated with administration of buprenorphine should be considered when evaluating experimental data from rats housed on contact bedding.
Descriptors: analgesics, opioids, pica, litter, stomach, digesta, rats, hepatectomy, laparotomy, anesthetics, postoperative complications, opioid analgesics, gastric distention, isoflurane.

Clark, M.M., J.M. Vonk, and B.G.J. Galef (1998). Intrauterine position, parenting, and nest-site attachment in male Mongolian gerbils. Developmental Psychobiology 32(3): 177-81. ISSN: 0012-1630.
Abstract: We housed male Mongolian gerbils, their mates, and foster litters of standardized size and sex ratio in enclosures that provided cover in two locations. Males had been gestated in known intrauterine positions: either between two females (2F males) or between two males (2M males). From Days 1 to 20 postpartum, we examined the frequency with which both males and females were in contact with the pups they were rearing. We found that 2F males spent more time with pups than did 2M males both during entire observation periods and when females were away from the nest. Further, when pups were moved from the nest site. 2M males spent more time than did 2F males in the vacated nest site. We concluded that 2F male gerbils spent more time with pups than 2M males not because of a greater attachment of 2F than 2M males to places of concealment, their male, or their nest site. Rather, 2F males were more attracted to pups than were 2M males.
Descriptors: Gerbillinae growth and development, nesting behavior physiology, object attachment, paternal behavior, prenatal exposure delayed effects, analysis of variance, Gerbillinae psychology, nuclear family, observation, sex factors.

Crawley, J.N. (2003). Behavioral phenotyping of rodents. Comparative Medicine 53(2): 140-146. ISSN: 1532-0820.
NAL Call Number: SF77.C65
Abstract: Established methods for analyzing behavioral traits in mutant lines of mice allow researchers to understand the outcomes of genetic manipulations in the nervous system. A rigorous six-tiered behavioral phenotyping strategy is described. Recommendations are offered for the design of mouse behavioral testing suites in animal housing facilities.
Descriptors: mice, laboratory animals, animal behavior, phenotype, phenotypic variation, transgenic animals, knockout mutants, fearfulness, avoidance conditioning, conditioned behavior, neurophysiology, statistical analysis, experimental design, working conditions, research facilities.

Crawley, J.N. (1999). Behavioral phenotyping of transgenic and knockout mice: experimental design and evaluation of general health, sensory functions, motor abilities, and specific behavioral tests. Brain Research 835(1): 18-26. ISSN: 0006-8993.
Descriptors: behavior, animal physiology, knockout mice physiology, transgenic mice physiology, psychomotor performance physiology, sensation genetics, sensation physiology, health, knockout mice genetics, transgenic mice genetics, phenotype, research design.

Cunningham, J.T., M.L. Penny, T. Fleming, and L.L. Ji (2004). The effects of water deprivation and rehydration on cFos and FosB in the rat forebrain. FASEB Journal 18: 4-5 (Abst. 207.10). ISSN: 0892-6638.
Online: http://www.fasebj.org/
Descriptors: rat, forebrain, water deprivation, rehydration, effect, cFos, FosB, plasma osmoality, specific gravity.
Notes: Meeting Information: FASEB Meeting on Experimental Biology: Translating the Genome, April 17-21, 2004, Washington, D.C., USA.

D'Amato, F.R., R. Rizzi, and A. Moles (2001). A model of social stress in dominant mice: effects on sociosexual behaviour. Physiology and Behavior 73(3): 421-6. ISSN: 0031-9384.
Abstract: The possibility of socially stressing the dominant/aggressive member of a pair of male mice is tested. Male mice (NMRI outbreed strain) were housed in pairs to assess dominant and subordinate roles by agonistic interactions and urine-marking test. Social stress for dominant males consisted in 30 min/day of exposure to their subordinate partner interacting with a female in the adjacent compartment of the cage, for 9 days. Results showed that dominance status was maintained. Behavioural observations indicated that neither the subordinates nor the dominant males habituated to this experimental procedure. At the end of the chronic stress, dominant animals were given the opportunity to interact for 30 min with a female in their compartment. Results indicated that stressed dominants showed impairment in their sexual behaviour and were more oriented towards the physical environment in comparison with control dominants. The behavioural response to apomorphine (0.25 mg/kg) indicated an alteration of the dopaminergic functioning in socially stressed dominant mice. This study suggests that the characteristics of the stressor and the effects of the chronic social stress could be different, according to male social status.
Descriptors: sex behavior, animal physiology, social behavior, social environment, stress, psychological psychology, apomorphine pharmacology, dopamine agonists pharmacology, mice, models, psychological, social dominance.

D'Arbe, M., R. Einstein, and N.A. Lavidis (2002). Stressful animal housing conditions and their potential effect on sympathetic neurotransmission in mice. American Journal of Physiology Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology 282(5): R1422-8. ISSN: 0363-6119.
Abstract: Although the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) plays a major role in mediating the peripheral stress response, due consideration is not usually given to the effects of prolonged stress on the SNS. The present study examined changes in neurotransmission in the SNS after exposure of mice (BALB/c) to stressful housing conditions. Focal extracellular recording of excitatory junction currents (EJCs) was used as a relative measure of neurotransmitter release from different regions of large surface areas of the mouse vas deferens. Mice were either group housed (control), isolation housed (social deprivation), group housed in a room containing rats (rat odor stress), or isolation housed in a room containing rats (concurrent stress). Social deprivation and concurrent stressors induced an increase of 30 and 335% in EJC amplitude, respectively. The success rate of recording EJCs from sets of varicosities in the concurrent stressor group was greater compared with all other groups. The present study has shown that some common animal housing conditions act as stressors and induce significant changes in sympathetic neurotransmission.
Descriptors: mice, housing conditions, stress, potential effect, sympathetic nervous system, group housed, isolation housed.

Davis, J.A. (1999-2000). The triple A approach to ensuring animal welfare. Animal Welfare Information Center Bulletin 10(3-4): 1-2, 20-22. ISSN: 1522-7553.
Online: http://www.nal.usda.gov/awic/newsletters/v10n3/10n3davi.htm
NAL Call Number: aHV4701.A952
Descriptors: laboratory animals, mice, animal welfare, pain, mental stress, clinical aspects, disease course, weight losses, body weight, euthanasia, clinical examination, gait, body temperature, experimental design, animal handling, endpoints, animal use refinement.

Day, D.E., E.M. Mintz, and T.J. Bartness (1999). Diet self-selection and food hoarding after food deprivation by Siberian hamsters. Physiology and Behavior 68(1-2): 187-194. ISSN: 0031-9384.
Descriptors: diet, self selection, food hoarding, food deprivation, hamsters.

De Wilde, M.C., E. Hogyes, A.J. Kiliaan, T. Farkas, P.G. Luiten, and E. Farkas (2003). Dietary fatty acids alter blood pressure, behavior and brain membrane composition of hypertensive rats. Brain Research 988(1-2): 9-19. ISSN: 0006-8993.
Abstract: The beneficial effect of dietary n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) on developing hypertension has been repeatedly demonstrated. However, related changes in brain membrane composition and its cognitive correlates have remained unclear. Our study aimed at a comprehensive analysis of behavior and cerebral fatty acid concentration in hypertension after long-term PUFA-rich dietary treatment. Hypertensive and normotensive rats were provided a placebo, or one of two PUFA-enriched diets with a reduced (n-6) /(n-3) ratio for 75 weeks. Exploratory behavior and spatial learning capacity were tested. Systolic blood pressure (BP) was repeatedly measured. Finally, brain fatty acid composition was analyzed by gas chromatography. Hypertensive rats exhibited more active exploration but impaired spatial learning compared to normotensives. Both diets reduced BP, increased PUFA and monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA) concentration, and reduced saturated fatty acid content in brain. The level of cerebral PUFAs and MUFAs was lower in hypertensive than in normotensive rats. Furthermore, BP positively, while spatial learning negatively correlated with cerebral (n-6)/(n-3) PUFA ratio. We concluded that regular n-3 PUFA consumption could prevent the development of hypertension, but reached only a very delicate improvement in spatial learning. Furthermore, we consider a potential role of metabolically generated MUFAs in the beneficial effects of PUFA supplementation.
Descriptors: rats, hypertensive, dietary fatty acids, blood pressure, behavior, brain membrane composition.

Della, Z.O., M. Boulanger, O. Broux, E. Douillet, B. Husson, and J. Duhault (1998). NPY and NPY analogues on the feeding behavior and body weight in rodents. International Journal of Obesity 22(Supplement 3): S125. ISSN: 0307-0565.
Descriptors: NPY, NPY analogues, feeding behavior, body weight, rodents.
Notes: Meeting Information: Eighth International Congress on Obesity, August 29-September 3, 1998, Paris, France.

Dennis Jr., M.B. (2002). Welfare issues of genetically modified animals. ILAR Journal 43(2): 100-109. ISSN: 1084-2020.
NAL Call Number: QL55.A1I43
Descriptors: mice, laboratory animals, transgenic animals, animal models, animal welfare, morbidity, mortality, genetic engineering, animal use alternatives, phenotype, animal use refinement, animal use reduction, Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee, committees.

Dobson, M., R.L. Goldingay, and D.J. Sharpe (2005). Feeding behaviour of the squirrel glider in remnant habitat in Brisbane. Australian Mammalogy 27(1): 27-35. ISSN: 0310-0049.
Abstract: The diet of the squirrel glider (Petaurus norfolcensis) was studied in a 45 ha forest remnant within an urban area close to Brisbane in south-east Queensland. Qualitative observations of feeding behaviour were conducted during each of 10 months between May 2002 and April 2003, on over 27 P. norfolcensis from at least 10 social groups. Four different feeding behaviours were recorded from 750 observations. Feeding from flowers accounted for 48% of the diet. Nectar and pollen were derived from 10 overstorey tree species, though forest red gum (Eucalyptus tereticornis) dominated because of its high abundance and protracted flowering period. Honeydew and lerp feeding accounted for 15% and 2% of all observations, respectively. Searching for arthropods accounted for 35% overall and occurred in 20 different tree species, where a range of substrates was used. Brushbox (Lophostemon confertus) was the most important; it was used in all seasons and accounted for 49% of these observations. These results contrast with assessment of the diet of P. norfolcensis at other sites where a greater range of broad food types was used. This may reflect the disturbed quality of the habitat at our site. However, these observations confirm the importance of eucalypt nectar in the diet of this species.
Descriptors: behavior, foods, ecology, environmental sciences, diet, habitat, feeding behavior.

Dock, D.B., M.Q. Latorraca, J.E. Aguilar Nascimento, and M.H.G. Gomes da Silva (2004). Probiotics enhance recovery from malnutrition and lessen colonic mucosal atrophy after short-term fasting in rats. Nutrition 20(5): 473-476. ISSN: 0899-9007.
Descriptors: rats, short term fasting, mucosal atrophy, malnutrition, probiotics, recovery.

Donald, J.A., B. Davis, K.L. Minerds, and T. Toop (1999). The effect of total water deprivation on the natriuretic peptide system of the hopping mouse, Notomys alexis. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology, Part A, Molecular and Integrative Physiology 124(Supplement): S90. ISSN: 1095-6433.
NAL Call Number: QP1.C6
Descriptors: total water deprivation, hopping mouse, effect, natiuretic peptide system.
Notes: Meeting Information: Fifth International Congress of Comparative Physiology and Biochemistry, August 23-28, 1999, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

Dou, Y., S. Gregersen, J. Zhao, F. Zhuang, and H. Gregersen (2002). Morphometric and biomechanical intestinal remodeling induced by fasting in rats. Digestive Diseases and Sciences 47(5): 1158-1168. ISSN: 0163-2116.
Descriptors: rats, fasting, intestinal remodeling, small intestine, nutrition, functional changes, smooth muscle, muscle layers.

Duelli, R., M.H. Maurer, S. Heiland, V. Elste, and W. Kuschinsky (1999). Brain water content, glucose transporter densities and glucose utilization after 3 days of water deprivation in the rat. NeuroScience Letters 271(1): 13-16. ISSN: 0304-3940.
Descriptors: brain, water deprivation, rat, water content, glucose transporter, utilization.

Duke, J.L., T.G. Zammit, and D.M. Lawson (2001). The effects of routine cage-changing on cardiovascular and behavioral parameters in male Sprague-Dawley rats. Contemporary Topics in Laboratory Animal Science 40(1): 17-20. ISSN: 1060-0558.
NAL Call Number: SF405.5.A23
Descriptors: rats, laboratory mammals, animal husbandry, cleaning, blood pressure, heart rate, telemetry, data collection, physical activity, animal behavior, duration, frequency, fearfulness, stress, arousal behavior.

Dumas, J.F., D. Roussel, G. Simard, O. Douay, F. Foussard, Y. Malthiery, and P. Ritz (2004). Food restriction affects energy metabolism in rat liver mitochondria. Biochimica Et Biophysica Acta 1670(2): 126-131. ISSN: 0304-4165.
NAL Call Number: 381 B522[G]
Abstract: To examine the effect of 50% food restriction over a period of 3 days on mitochondrial energy metabolism, liver mitochondria were isolated from ad libitum and food-restricted rats. Mitochondrial enzyme activities and oxygen consumption were assessed spectrophotometrically and polarographically. With regard to body weight loss (-5%), food restriction decreased the liver to body mass ratio by 7%. Moreover, in food-restricted rats, liver mitochondria displayed diminished state 3 (-30%), state 4-oligomycin (-26%) and uncoupled state (-24%) respiration rates in the presence of succinate. Furthermore, "top-down" elasticity showed that these decreases were due to an inactivation of reactions involved in substrate oxidation. Therefore, it appears that rats not only adapt to food restriction through simple passive mechanisms, such as liver mass loss, but also through decreased mitochondrial energetic metabolism.
Descriptors: energy metabolism, oxidative phosphorylation, electron transport chain, dietary restriction, restricted feeding, calorie restrictions, energy restrictions.

Dunel Erb, S., C. Chevalier, P. Laurent, A. Bach, F. Decrock, and Y. Le Maho (2001). Restoration of the jejunal mucosa in rats refed after prolonged fasting. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology, Part A, Molecular & Integrative Physiology 129A(4): 933-947. ISSN: 1095-6433.
NAL Call Number: QP1.C6
Abstract: To investigate the importance of body fuel depletion on gut rehabilitation after food deprivation, we compared the kinetics of jejunal mucosa alteration and restoration in rats that were refed after reaching different stages in body fuel depletion. Rats (P2) were refed while still in the so-called phase II, where body protein utilization is minimized, whereas rats (P3) were refed when they had reached the stage of increasing protein utilization (phase III). There was a significant decrease in total mass of intestine (P2, -30%; P3, -40%) and jejunal mucosa (P2, -52%; P3, -60%), as well in the size of the crypts (P2, -15%; P3, -36%) and villi (P2, -37%; P3, -55%). Structural changes of the mucosa included disappearance of some villi and a reduction in the size and number of crypts. Despite the larger morphological alterations in P3, the restoration of mucosa was as fast and complete after only 3 days of refeeding for both P2 and P3 rats. The respective roles of the mitosis pressure and of the lamina propria dynamics were studied. The rapid reversibility of the gut mucosal alterations due to fasting might constitute an integrative process.
Descriptors: rats, refeeding, jejunum, intestinal mucosa, morphology, morphometrics, fasting.

El Fazaa, S., N. Gharbi, A. Kamoun, and L. Somody (1999). Effet du jeune aigu et chronique sur l' activite de l' axe hypophyso-corticosurrenalien chez le rat. [Effects of acute and chronic starvation on pituitary-adrenal axis activity in rat]. Medecine Et Nutrition 35(6): 237-244. ISSN: 0398-7604.
Abstract: Le travail a consiste a comparer chez le rat male les effets d' une denutrition aigue (3 jours de jeune) et d' une denutrition chronique ou intermittente (3 jours de jeune sur 4, durant 4 cycles consecutifs) sur l' evolution de la glycemie et sur l' activite de l' axe hypophyso-corticosurrenalien. La denutrition aigue entraine une diminution notable du poids corporel qui devient plus importante au cours de la denutrition chronique. L' activation de l' axe hypophyso-corticosurrenalien, apres 3 jours de jeune, montre que celui-ci constitue un stress et serait l' image d' une agression classique. L' absence de reponse hypophysaire, malgre l' activation corticosurrenalienne, temoigne d' une dissociation entre ces deux systemes, qui s' installe lorsque la denutrition se prolonge. Les taux eleves de glucocorticoides visent egalement a ajuster la concentration sanguine de glucose aux besoins de l' organisme.
Descriptors: rats, laboratory animals, underfeeding, blood sugar, physiological regulation, pituitary gland, adrenal glands, glucocorticoids, adrenal cortex hormones, animal glands, blood, blood composition, body parts, corticoids, endocrine glands, feeding, hormones, mammals, physiological functions, Rodentia, useful animals.
Language of Text: French with an English summary.

El Fazaa, S., L. Somody, N. Gharbi, A. Kamoun, C. Gharib, and G. Gauquelin Koch (1999). Effects of acute and chronic starvation on central and peripheral noradrenaline turnover, blood pressure and heart rate in the rat. Experimental Physiology 84(2): 357-368. ISSN: 0958-0670.
Descriptors: rat, starvation, acute, chronic, effects, blood pressure, heart rate, noradrenaline turnover.

Ely, D.R., V. Dapper, J. Marasca, J.B. Correa, G.D. Gamaro, M.H. Xavier, M.B. Michalowski, D. Catelli, R. Rosat, M.B.C. Ferreira, and C. Dalmaz (1997). Effect of restraint stress on feeding behavior of rats. Physiology and Behavior 61(3): 395-398. ISSN: 0031-9384.
Descriptors: rats, feeding behavior, restraint stress, effect.

Emond, M., S. Faubert, and M. Perkins (2003). Social conflict reduction program for male mice. Contemporary Topics in Laboratory Animal Science 42(5): 24-6. ISSN: 1060-0558.
NAL Call Number: SF405.5.A23
Abstract: Aggression within caged groups of unfamiliar male mice can be a serious welfare problem for maintaining mice in the laboratory. At our Center, two observation periods were set aside daily in order to identify, according to previously described behaviors, dominant mice and separate these when indicated. By reducing or eliminating the number of aggressive acts between group members in the same cage, our social conflict reduction program has led to a 57% reduction of mice being reported for clinical signs, death, and euthanasia. Welfare concerns seemed to be addressed. Therefore the program we implemented to reduce social conflict was effective in decreasing injuries and loss due to fighting. Minimizing aggression will have the additional benefit of reducing the confounding effect of stress on an animal's performance in experimental situations. This simple yet humane program can be applied easily to other animal facilities where male Crl:CD-1 mice (and possibly other stocks or strains) are used and fighting is a concern.
Descriptors: aggression psychology, conflict psychology, housing, animal, sex behavior, animal, animal welfare, hostility, mice, inbred mice strains, social dominance.

Escobar, C., M. Diaz Munoz, F. Encinas, and R. Aguilar Roblero (1998). Persistence of metabolic rhythmicity during fasting and its entrainment by restricted feeding schedules in rats. American Journal of Physiology 274(5, Part 2): R1309-R1316. ISSN: 0002-9513.
NAL Call Number: 447.8 Am3
Descriptors: biological rhythms, metabolism, rats, mammals, Rodentia, food entrainable oscillators, circadian rhythm.

Fano, E., J.R. Sanchez Martin, A. Arregi, B. Castro, A. Alonso, P. Brain, and A. Azpiroz (2001). Social stress paradigms in male mice: Variations in behavior, stress and immunology. Physiology and Behavior 73(1-2): 165-73. ISSN: 0031-9384.
Abstract: Male OF1 strain mice were allocated, after 2 weeks of individual housing, to cohabitating (6 or 16 days), fixed dyadic interaction pairs (6 or 16 daily encounters) or control groups (6 or 16 days). These different social stress situations were assessed for their effects on splenic contents of NE, IL-1 and IL-2 and serum levels of corticosterone. Spleen NE contents showed no significant variations, but serum corticosterone titers were generally higher in interacting pairs and subordinates. Splenic IL-2 did not respond in the same way to the treatments as IL-1. The differences in splenic interleukin contents could not be simply related to observed changes in serum corticosterone levels. Different mechanisms appear to regulate changes in glucocorticoids and the measured cytokines. These physiological phenomena do not simply reflect in the animal's social status (dominant or submissive). The intensity and duration of the agonistic behavior displayed as well as the interaction experience accumulated may account for the observed differences between the paradigms.
Descriptors: arousal physiology, corticosterone blood, dominance subordination, interleukin 1 blood, interleukin 2 blood, norepinephrine blood, social environment, agonistic behavior physiology, immune tolerance physiology, mice, inbred mice strains, spleen immunology.

Farnum, C.E., A.O. Lee, K. O'Hara, and N.J. Wilsman (2003). Effect of short-term fasting on bone elongation rates: an analysis of catch-up growth in young male rats. Pediatric Research 53(1): 33-41. ISSN: 0031-3998.
Descriptors: rats, young male, short term fasting, effect, bone elongation rate, growth, nutritional stunting, postnatal.

Fehr, M. (2002). Nyulak, tengerimalacok, kisragcsalok es hullok allatvedelmi kovetelmenyeknek megfelelo eutanaziaja. [Euthanasia of rabbits, guineapigs, rodents and reptiles, respecting animal welfare requirements]. Magyar Allatorvosok Lapja 124(5): 307-311. ISSN: 0025-004X.
Descriptors: animal welfare, euthanasia, guinea pigs, mice, rabbits, rats, reptiles.
Language of Text: Hungarian.

Fitzgerald, S.M., J.E. Hall, and M.W. Brands (2001). Rapid hypotensive response to fasting in spontaneously hypertensive rats. American Journal of Hypertension 14(11, Part 1): 1123-1127. ISSN: 0895-7061.
Descriptors: rats, hypertensive, fasting, response, renal function, arterial pressure, sodium intake, changes.

Francis, D.D., L.J. Young, and T.R. Insel (2002). Do variations in parental care alter social behavior in adult prairie vole offspring? Developmental Psychobiology 41(1): 77. ISSN: 0012-1630.
Descriptors: prairie vole, offspring, social behavior, parental care, variations, adult.
Notes: Meeting Information: 33rd Annual Meeting of the International Society for Developmental Psychobiology, November 01-04, 2000, New Orleans, LA, USA.

Francis, R.J. (2002). Assessing the welfare of genetically modified mice. Animal Technology and Welfare 1(1): 19-21. ISSN: 0264-4754.
NAL Call Number: SF757.A62
Descriptors: modified mice, welfare, genetically modified, adverse effects, DNA, transgenic.
Language of Text: French, Spanish and Italian summaries.

Francolin Silva, A.L. and S.S. Almeida (2004). The interaction of housing condition and acute immobilization stress on the elevated plus-maze behaviors of protein-malnourished rats. Brazilian Journal of Medical and Biological Research 37(7): 1035-1042. ISSN: 0100-879X.
Abstract: Protein malnutrition induces structural, neurochemical and functional alterations in the central nervous system, leading to behavioral alterations. In the present study, we used the elevated plus-maze (EPM) as a measure of anxiety to evaluate the interaction between acute immobilization and housing conditions on the behavior of malnourished rats. Pups (6 males and 2 females) were fed by Wistar lactating dams receiving a 6% (undernourished) or 16% (well-nourished) protein diet. After weaning, the animals continued to receive the same diets ad libitum until 49 days of age when they started to receive a regular lab chow diet. From weaning to the end of the tests on day 70, the animals were housed under two different conditions, i.e., individual or in groups of three. On the 69th day, half of the animals were submitted to immobilization for 2 h, while the other half were undisturbed, and both groups were tested 24 h later for 5 min in the EPM. Independent of other factors, protein malnutrition increased, while immobilization and social isolation per se decreased, EPM exploration. Analysis of the interaction of diet vs immobilization vs housing conditions showed that the increased EPM exploration presented by the malnourished group was reversed by acute immobilization in animals reared in groups but not in animals reared individually. The interaction between immobilization and housing conditions suggests that living for a long time in social isolation is sufficiently stressful to reduce the responses to another anxiogenic procedure (immobilization), while living in groups prompts the animals to react to acute stress. Thus, it is suggested that housing condition can modulate the effects of an anxiogenic procedure on behavioral responses of malnourished rats in the EPM.
Descriptors: rats, protein malnourished, housing condition, interaction, stress, behavior, diet, immobilization.

Freed, D.E. and L. Green (1998). A behavioral economic analysis of fat appetite in rats. Appetite 31(3): 333-349. ISSN: 0195-6663.
NAL Call Number: QP141.A1A64
Descriptors: rats, appetite, fats, energy, nutrient intake, feeding preferences, feeding habits, behavior, mammals, nutrition physiology, physiological functions, Rodentia, energy intake.

Frynta, D. and J. Cihakova (1996). Neutral cage interactions in Mus macedonicus (Rodentia: Muridae): an aggressive mouse? Acta Societatis Zoologicae Bohemicae 60(2-3): 97-102. ISSN: 1211-376X.
Descriptors: Mus macedonicus, agonistic behavior, captive born and wild individuals, captive observations.

Frystyk, J., P.J.D. Delhanty, C. Skjaerbaek, and R.C. Baxter (1999). Changes in the circulating IGF system during short-term fasting and refeeding in rats. American Journal of Physiology 277(2): E245-E252. ISSN: 0002-9513.
NAL Call Number: 447.8 Am3
Descriptors: rats, short term fasting, refeeding, circulating IGF, changes, serum, RNA, insulin, hepatic synthesis.

Fukuroda, T., A. Ishihara, A. Kanatani, T. Tanaka, M. Hidaka, T. Fukami, A. Ogiwara, and M. Ihara (1998). Effects of the neuropeptide y (NPY) y1 receptor antagonist 1229u91 on feeding behavior in rats. International Journal of Obesity 22(Supplement 3): S125. ISSN: 0307-0565.
Descriptors: feeding, behavior, rats, neuropeptide, receptor antagonist, NPY, effects, 1229u91.
Notes: Meeting Information: Eighth International Congress on Obesity, August 29-September 3, 1998, Paris, France.

Funk, D. and S. Amir (1999). Conditioned fear attenuates light-induced suppression of melatonin release in rats. Physiology and Behavior 67(4): 623-626. ISSN: 0031-9384.
Descriptors: rats, conditioned fear, attenuates, light induced suppression, melatonin release.

Galef, B.G. (2002). Social influences on food choices of Norway rats and mate choices of Japanese quail. Appetite 39(2): 179-180. ISSN: 0195-6663.
NAL Call Number: QP141.A1A64
Descriptors: rats, Japanese quails, animal models, food choices, social environment, learning, nutrient intake, cost benefit analysis, feeding behavior.

Galef Jr., B.G. and E.E. Whiskin (1998). Limits on social influence on food choices of Norway rats. Animal Behaviour 56(4): 1015-1020. ISSN: 0003-3472.
NAL Call Number: 410 B77
Descriptors: feeding preferences, rats, spices, palatability, diet, experimentation, sugar, cocoa beans, feeding habits, social behavior, behavior, flavorings, mammals, organoleptic properties, plant products, processed plant products, processed products, quality, Rodentia.

Galsworthy, M.J., I. Amrein, P.A. Kuptsov, I.I. Poletaeva, P. Zinn, A. Rau, A. Vyssotski, and H.P. Lipp (2005). A comparison of wild-caught wood mice and bank voles in the Intellicage: assessing exploration, daily activity patterns and place learning paradigms. Behavioural Brain Research 157(2): 211-217. ISSN: 0166-4328.
Abstract: Our previous work has revealed very high baseline neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus of wood mice as compared particularly to bank voles; a difference which may be related to learning capacity. This study explored whether the newly-developed Intellicage system could be used to compare these species in simple spatial learning paradigms. The Intellicage is essentially a group-housing cage that also allows continuous automatic recording of each individual's behaviour. Seven wild-caught bank voles (Clethrionomys glareolus) were compared with seven wild-caught long-tailed wood mice (Apodemus sylvaticus) in the Intellicage system over 9 days. During the first 90 min after entering the cage, the wood mice were substantially more exploratory than the bank voles (P = 0.003). Over subsequent days, both species showed nocturnal activity increases with voles being 3.7 times more active overall. In the spatial learning paradigms, there were significant species-by-time interactions with wood mice outperforming bank voles on both place learning (P = 0.027) and subsequent reversal (P = 0.006). Conclusions are firstly that the wood mice show superior learning abilities in this paradigm, and secondly that the Intellicage serves as a valuable cognitive testing arena for small wild rodents, or for circumstances where cognition must be compared independent of different responses to handling or novel environments.
Descriptors: wood mice, bank voles, exploration, wild caught, activity patterns, learning, Intellicage.

Garey, J., L. Kow, W. Huynh, S. Ogawa, and D.W. Pfaff (2002). Temporal and spatial quantitation of nesting and mating behaviors among mice housed in a semi-natural environment. Hormones and Behavior 42(3): 294-306. ISSN: 0018-506X.
Descriptors: mice, nesting, mating, behavior, environment, natural, social interactions.

Gariepy, J.L., D. Nehrenberg, and K.R. Mills (2001). Maternal care and separation stress in high- and low-aggressive mice. Developmental Psychobiology 38(3): 203. ISSN: 0012-1630.
Descriptors: mice, maternal care, separation stress, high aggressive, low aggressive.
Notes: Meeting Information: 33rd Annual Meeting of the International Society for Developmental Psychobiology, November 01-04, 2000, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.

Gariepy, J.L., R.M. Rodriguiz, and B.C. Jones (2002). Handling, genetic and housing effects on the mouse stress system, dopamine function, and behavior. Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behavior 73(1): 7-17. ISSN: 0091-3057.
Abstract: This research was designed to examine how early stimulation (i.e., handling), subsequent housing conditions and genetic factors interact to produce adult differences in stress regulation. High-aggressive (NC900) and low-aggressive (NC100) mice were handled for 3 weeks potspartum and were subsequently isolated or grouped until observed as adults in an open field or a dyadic test. In NC100, handling abolished the temporal variations seen in open-field activity among the nonhandled subjects and reduced corticosterone (CORT) activation. In NC900, these two measures were unaffected by handling. Only among handled NC100 did subsequent group rearing further reduce CORT activation. By contrast, handling caused an up-regulation of D1 dopamine receptors in both lines, and, in NC100, this effect was increased by group rearing. In a dyadic encounter with another male mouse, subjects of both lines showed handling effects. NC100 froze less rapidly and NC900 attacked more rapidly. This multifactorial design showed that the systemic effects of handling are modulated by genetic background, and that measures of these effects are affected by experience beyond infancy. Our findings also showed that the effects of handling vary when assessed across different physiological systems and across social and nonsocial testing conditions.
Descriptors: behavior, animal physiology, handling psychology, animal housing, interpersonal relations, receptors, dopamine D1 metabolism, stress blood, brain metabolism, corticosterone blood, corticosterone genetics, mice, receptors, dopamine D1 genetics, species specificity, stress genetics, mouse, stress system, handling, genetic, effects, dopamine function, early stimulation.

Garner, J.P., B. Dufour, L.E. Gregg, S.M. Weisker, and J.A. Mench (2004). Social and husbandry factors affecting the prevalence and severity of barbering ('whisker trimming') by laboratory mice. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 89(3-4): 263-282. ISSN: 0168-1591.
NAL Call Number: QL750.A6
Descriptors: mice, social factors, husbandry factors, animal behavior, barbering, severity, prevalence, animal welfare.

Gattermann, R., R. Weinandy, and P. Fritzsche (2004). Running-wheel activity and body composition in golden hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus). Physiology and Behavior 82(2-3): 541-4. ISSN: 0031-9384.
Abstract: Running wheels are frequently used in behavioural and physiological experiments. The function of wheel-running activity in laboratory animals is controversial. In the present long-term study, the influence of this activity was evaluated in male golden hamsters over a period of 52 weeks. Four months after the start of the experiment, hamsters with access to running wheels were significantly heavier than those without these wheels. In addition, food consumption nearly doubled. The absolute values of fat-free mass (FFM), total body water (TBW) and crude fat mass (CFM) increased. However, in contrast to these absolute differences, the relative values were never different and general body composition was therefore unaffected by running-wheel activity. Different organ masses were established for absolute values of kidneys, testes and epididymis; possible effects on reproduction are discussed. The present data indicating improved physical condition leads to the assumption that a running wheel is a useful enrichment, enhancing animal welfare in the golden hamster.
Descriptors: body composition physiology, motor activity physiology, physical conditioning, animal physiology, animal welfare, body weights and measures, hamsters, housing, animal, Mesocricetus, random allocation.

Georgsson, L., J. Barrett, and D. Gietzen (2001). The effects of group-housing and relative weight on feeding behaviour in rats. Scandinavian Journal of Laboratory Animal Science 28(4): 201-209. ISSN: 0901-3393.
Descriptors: rats, group housing, weight, feeding behavior, effect.
Language of Text: Swedish summary.

Ghelardini, C., N. Galeotti, A.P. Vettori, S. Capaccioli, A. Quattrone, and A. Barolini (1997). Effect of K+ channel modulation on mouse feeding behaviour. European Journal of Pharmacology 329(1): 1-8. ISSN: 0014-2999.
Descriptors: feeding behavior, K+ channel modulation, effect, mouse.

Giacomelli, F.R.B. and M.R.M. Natali (1999). A utilizacao de ratos em modelos experimentais de carencias nutricionais. [The use of rats in experimental models of deprivation nutrition]. Arquivos De Ciencias Da Saude Da UNIPAR 3(3): 239-249. ISSN: 1415-076x.
Descriptors: rats, model, food deprivation, nutrition, diet, protein level, organs, effects, cellular turnover.
Language of Text: Portuguese with an English summary.

Godsil, B.P. and M.S. Fanselow (2001). Learned and unlearned fear reactions to bright light in the rat. Society for Neuroscience Abstracts 27(1): 1400. ISSN: 0190-5295.
Descriptors: rat, bright light, fear reactions, learned, unlearned, defensive, freezing, dark, sensory damage, reactions.
Notes: Meeting Information: 31st Annual Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, November 10-15, 2001, San Diego, California, USA.

Goecke, J., H. Awad, J.C. Lawson, and G. Boivin (2005). Evaluating postoperative analgesics in mice using telemetry. Comparative Medicine 55(1): 37-44. ISSN: 1532-0820.
NAL Call Number: SF77.C65
Abstract: The study examined the efficacy of preemptive or postoperative analgesia on surgical pain in the mouse. Radiotelemetry transmitters were surgically implanted in 28 female ICR mice. A mock ova implantation surgery was then performed. Mice were treated with a single dose of buprenorphine or flunixin meglumine prior to or after surgery, three doses of buprenorphine, or were untreated. Heart rate, blood pressure, home cage activity, food and water consumption, and body weight were measured. The no-analgesia group showed no significant differences between any parameters collected prior to surgery and those collected at similar times during the day of surgery. Significant increases in mouse activity on the day of surgery occurred with all analgesic treatments, compared with pre-surgical activity. There were no consistent significant changes in any other telemetry parameter after treatment with analgesics compared with no analgesia. Food consumption and body weight the day after surgery were reduced significantly in the animals treated with three doses of buprenorphine compared with untreated mice and mice given a single dose of buprenorphine. We conclude that the mock ova implant procedure does not induce sufficient pain to cause alterations in heart rate and blood pressure in the mouse. Activity was significantly reduced in the first 6 h after surgery in mice without analgesia, compared with activity prior to surgery. There were no significant differences between pre-emptive and postoperative analgesia. Body weight and food and water consumption were poor measures of pain because analgesia alone affected these parameters.
Descriptors: postoperative analgesics, evaluating, mice, telemetry, radiotelemetry, heart rate, blood pressure, pain.

Gordon, C.J., P. Becker, P. Killough, and B. Padnos (2000). Behavioral determination of the preferred foot pad temperature of the mouse. Journal of Thermal Biology 25(3): 211-219. ISSN: 0306-4565.
NAL Call Number: QP82.2.T4J6
Descriptors: mouse, foot pad, preferred temperature, behavioral determination.

Gutierrez, A.C. and E.A. Keller (1997). Analgesic response to stress is reduced in perinatally undernourished rats. Journal of Nutrition 127(5): 765-769. ISSN: 0022-3166.
NAL Call Number: 389.8 J82
Abstract: Stress-induced analgesia was evaluated in adult rats submitted early in life to a protein deprivation schedule. Rats were undernourished with a hypoproteic diet containing 80 g casein/kg diet from d 14 of gestation until 50 days of age. Rats were thereafter fed a balanced nonpurified diet until 140 days of age, when they were exposed to two stressors: forced swimming and acute restraint, after which the analgesic response was evaluated. In addition, the analgesic response induced by different morphine doses was determined in another group of rats. Basal latency was not different in deprived and control rats. Undernourished rats presented a significantly lower analgesic response in both stress situations. However, when the analgesic response induced by different morphine doses (1, 2, 4 and 8 mg/kg, s.c.) was assessed, a significantly higher response occurred in undernourished rats compared to control rats. This lower stress-induced analgesia in undernourished rats may account for the behavioral alterations attributed to early undernutrition.
Descriptors: malnutrition, puerperium, stress, pain, protein deficiencies, dosage effects, morphine, rats, animal models, young animals, alkaloids, animal developmental stages, developmental stages, mammals, nutrient deficiencies, Rodentia, undernutrition, swimming, restraint.

Habold, C., C. Chevalier, S. Dunel Erb, C. Foltzer Jourdainne, Y.l. Maho, and J.H. Lignot (2004). Effects of fasting and refeeding on jejunal morphology and cellular activity in rats in relation to depletion of body stores. Scandinavian Journal of Gastroenterology 39(6): 531-539. ISSN: 0036-5521.
Descriptors: rats, fasting, refeeding, effects, jejunal morphology, cellular activity, body stores, intestinal mucosa, fat stores, starvation.

Han, E.S., T.R. Evans, S. Lee, and J.F. Nelson (2001). Food restriction differentially affects pituitary hormone mRNAs throughout the adult life span of male F344 rats. Journal of Nutrition 131(6): 1687-1693. ISSN: 0022-3166.
NAL Call Number: 389.8 J82
Abstract: Because neuroendocrine mechanisms may contribute to the antiaging effects of food restriction (FR), we measured the effect of FR on mRNAs encoding anterior pituitary (AP) tropic hormones. Slot blots or RNase protection assays were done on AP RNA from 3-, 6-, 12-, 18- and 24-mo-old male F344 rats consuming food ad libitum (AL) or food restricted (FR; to 60% of AL food intake) from 6 wk. Both AL and FR rats gained body weight during the study (P < 0.05), but FR rats weighed approximately 40% less (P < 0.0001). Messenger RNA levels were expressed in two ways, i.e., per total AP and per microgram total AP RNA. Proopiomelanocortin (POMC) mRNA/microgram RNA was higher (P < 0.0005) in FR than in AL rats at all ages. Thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) beta mRNA declined with age (P < 0.05) in AL but not FR rats and was reduced by FR up to 12 mo (P < 0.01). Growth hormone (GH) mRNA/microgram RNA declined with age (P < 0.05) in AL but not FR rats, and total GH mRNA in the AP was reduced by FR at early ages (P < 0.05). FR reduced prolactin (PRL) mRNA and its age-related increase (P < 0.0005). Levels of luteinizing hormone (LH) beta and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) beta mRNAs did not differ between AL and FR rats until 12 mo, but thereafter rose in FR (LH beta mRNA; P < 0.01, FSH beta mRNA; P < 0.05). Many of these changes in gene expression corroborate previously reported hormonal changes in FR rodents and mutant mice with extended life spans, and thus provide further support for the hypothesis that an altered hormonal milieu contributes to the antiaging effects of food restriction.
Descriptors: diet, food restriction, messenger RNA, pituitary hormones, anterior pituitary, age differences, aging, body weight, food intake, pro opiomelanocortin, thyrotropin, somatotropin, prolactin, LH, FSH, restricted feeding, underfeeding, rats, animal models.

Harikai, N., T. Sugawara, K. Tomogane, K. Mizuno, and S. Tashiro (2004). Acute heat stress induces jumping escape behavior in mice. Physiology and Behavior 83(3): 373-376. ISSN: 0031-9384.
Abstract: A new heat escape behavior was revealed in mice (ddY mice) under acute heat stress conditions. Mice in a fully covered cage were exposed to 24, 34, 37 and 38.5 degrees C for 60 min. Rectal temperature increased in conditions above 34 degrees C. Furthermore, serum osmolality and body weight loss also increased in conditions above 37 degrees C. At above 37 degrees C, a large number of mice attempted to escape from the partially covered cage, and so exhibited jumping behavior during a period of 60 min. However, mice exposed to 24 and 34 degrees C did not exhibit such behavior. These results indicated that acute heat stress above 37 degrees C induced evaporative water loss and jumping escape behavior in mice.
Descriptors: heat, stress, escape, jumping, mice, behavior, ddY mice, temperature.

Harkin, A., T.J. Connor, J.M. O'Donnell, and J.P. Kelly (2002). Physiological and behavioral responses to stress: What does a rat find stressful. Lab Animal 31(4): 42-50. ISSN: 0093-7355.
NAL Call Number: QL55.A1L33
Descriptors: rats, laboratory animals, stress, animal behavior, stress factors, telemetry, transponders, responses, duration, heart rate, body temperature, locomotion, physical activity, cage density, litter, feces, subcutaneous injection, escape responses, lighting, odors, cage size, animal testing alternatives, animal handling, pair housing, confinement, stroboscopic lighting, animal use refinement.

Harri, M., J. Lindblom, H. Malinen, M. Hyttinen, T. Lapvetelainen, S. Eskola, and H.J. Helminen (1999). Effect of access to a running wheel on behavior of C57BL/6J mice. Laboratory Animal Science 49(4): 401-5. ISSN: 0023-6764.
NAL Call Number: 410.9 P94
Abstract: BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: To evaluate how and when mice run on a running wheel and how ad libitum access to the wheel affect behavior, feed intake, and weight gain. METHODS: Seventeen 2-month-old C57BL/6J mice had access to the wheel, whereas 19 control mice did not. After 3 to 6.5 weeks, behavior was video-recorded over 24 h for each mouse. RESULTS: Experimental mice ran an average 2 km/24 h in 114 min. Highest running activity took place at the onset of darkness. Experimental mice spent 22 min more feeding on the cage floor than did control mice. These times were deducted from those for all other behaviors: 74 min from resting time, 39 min from climbing and feeding on the cage lid, 14 min from locomotion on the cage floor, and 10 min from grooming. In relative figures, deduction from sleeping time was only 9%, whereas climbing time was halved. CONCLUSIONS: Climbing on the cage lid has a similar circadian rhythm as does wheel running and high-energy expenditure. Because experimental mice climbed less, their weight gain and feed intake were similar to those of control mice. Thus, wheel running can substitute for other forms of energy-consuming behaviors and vice versa.
Descriptors: behavior, animal, exertion, inbred C57BL mice physiology, circadian rhythm, eating, energy metabolism, mice, motor activity, weight gain.

Harris, R.B.S., H.Y. Gu, T.D. Mitchell, L. Endale, M. Russo, and D.H. Ryan (2004). Increased glucocorticoid response to a novel stress in rats that have been restrained. Physiology and Behavior 81(4): 557-568. ISSN: 0031-9384.
Descriptors: rats, stress, restraint, glucocorticoid response, weight loss, adrenal response, hypophagia.

Heijboer, A.C., E. Donga, P.J. Voshol, Z.C. Dang, L.M. Havekes, J.A. Romijn, and E.P.M. Corssmit (2005). Sixteen hours of fasting differentially affects hepatic and muscle insulin sensitivity in mice. Journal of Lipid Research 46(3): 582-588. ISSN: 0022-2275.
Descriptors: mice, fasting, hepatic, muscle, insulin sensitivity, affects, changes, liver steatosis.

Henderson, A.L., W. Cao, R. Wang, M. Lu, and C.E. Cerniglia (1998). The effect of food restriction on the composition of intestinal microflora in rats. Experimental Gerontology 33(3): 239-247. ISSN: 0531-5565.
Descriptors: rats, starvation, feces, microbial flora, intestines, body parts, digestive system, excreta, feeding, mammals, Rodentia, food restriction.

Hendrie, C.A. and N.J. Starkey (1998). Pair-bond disruption in Mongolian gerbils: effects on subsequent social behaviour. Physiology and Behavior 63(5): 895-901. ISSN: 0031-9384.
Abstract: Gerbils are social rodents which form stable male-female pairs. These pair bonds appear to be based on prolonged association rather than an exclusive mating relationship. However, both sexes contribute to territorial defense and pup rearing. Therefore, pair-bond disruption may be expected to have consequences for subsequent behaviour. This hypothesis was examined in a series of laboratory studies. Behavioural consequences of pair-bond disruption were seen in both sexes and the optimum housing parameters were found to be to pair males and females for 5 weeks and to examine their behaviour 1 week after pair-bond disruption. Two further studies using these parameters were conducted to examine the combined influence of pair-bond disruption and the sex of the animal being interacted with. Results across all studies revealed a consistent pattern. Females showed increased immobility in contact, that is, freezing upon another animal's approach, and altered cage-orientated behaviour, regardless of the sex of the animal they were interacting with. In contrast, males showed decreased social investigation and offense and initiated fewer social interactions. However, these effects were only seen in interactions with other males. No changes in social behaviour were evident in interactions between pair-bond-disrupted males and females. The behavioural strategies of pair-bond-disrupted males and females in a social situation therefore differ. From these studies, it may be concluded that pair-bond disruption has consistent and reproducible effects on subsequent social behaviour in gerbils and that there are important sex differences in the behavioural expression of this.
Descriptors: Gerbillinae psychology, pair bond, social behavior, agonistic behavior, sex behavior, animal, spatial behavior.

Hennessy, M.B. (1999). Social influences on endocrine activity in guinea pigs, with comparisons to findings in nonhuman primates. NeuroScience and Biobehavioral Reviews 23(5): 687-98. ISSN: 0149-7634.
Abstract: Guinea pigs exhibit a rich and varied social organization. Studies in recent years have demonstrated that social stimuli have widespread neuroendocrine effects in guinea pigs. Here, effects on the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal, adrenal medullary/sympathetic, and hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal systems of both adult and developing guinea pigs are reviewed. These systems respond to various social variables, or factors that affect social variables, including: separation from attachment objects, housing conditions, changes in housing, the familiarity of the environment in which social interactions occur, foraging conditions, surrogate-rearing, agonistic interactions, and the establishment of dominance rank. Similarities and differences between these findings and those in nonhuman primates are discussed. It is argued that the guinea pig is well suited for the study of socioendocrine effects throughout the life span, and can provide a valuable complement to nonhuman primate research in this area.
Descriptors: endocrine glands physiology, guinea pigs psychology, primates psychology, social environment, hierarchy, social.

Hennessy, M.B. and A. Morris (2005). Passive responses of young guinea pigs during exposure to a novel environment: Influences of social partners and age. Developmental Psychobiology 46(2): 86-96. ISSN: 0012-1630.
Descriptors: guinea pigs, responses, novel environment, social partners, age, exposure, isolation, study.

Higashimoto, M., M. Sano, M. Kondoh, and M. Sato (2002). Different responses of metallothionein and leptin induced in the mouse by fasting stress. Biological Trace Element Research 89(1): 75-84. ISSN: 0163-4984.
Descriptors: mouse, fasting stress, leptin, metallothionein, responses, liver, zinc, oxidative damage, target organs.

Higuchi, H., A. Mitomi, T. Tsurumaki, T. Yamaguchi, and A. Hasegawa (2001). Blood pressure, contraction of vascular smooth muscle and feeding behavior of npy-y1 receptor knock-out mice. Japanese Journal of Pharmacology 85(Supplement 1): 161. ISSN: 0021-5198.
Descriptors: mice, blood pressure, feeding behavior, meeting abstract, smooth muscle, contraction.
Notes: Meeting Information: 74th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Pharmacological Society, March 21-23, 2001, Yokohama, Japan.

Hikiji, K., K. Inoue, S. Iwasaki, A. Nakada, K. Ichihara, and N. Kiriike (2001). Serotonin receptors in rat frontal cortex and feeding behavior. Society for Neuroscience Abstracts 27(1): 813. ISSN: 0190-5295.
Descriptors: rat, frontal cortex, feeding behavior, serotonin receptors, food intake.
Notes: Meeting Information: 31st Annual Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, November 10-15, 2001, San Diego, California, USA.

Hirashima, N., A. Yamanaka, T. Sakurai, M. Yanagisawa, and K. Goto (2003). Analysis of feeding behavior in prepro-orexin knockout mice. Journal of Pharmacological Sciences 91(Supplement 1): 203. ISSN: 1347-8613.
Descriptors: knockout mice, feeding behavior, analysis, prepro-orexin.
Notes: Meeting Information: 76th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Pharmacological Society, March 24-26, 2003, Fukuoka, Japan.

Hurst, J.L., C.J. Barnard, C.M. Nevison, and C.D. West (1998). Housing and welfare in laboratory rats: the welfare implications of social isolation and social contact among females. Animal Welfare 7(2): 121-136. ISSN: 0962-7286.
NAL Call Number: HV4701.A557
Descriptors: rats, cages, group size, welfare, females, housing, behavior, social isoloation, blood serum, corticosterone, aggressive behavior.

Hurst, J.L., C.J. Barnard, U. Tolladay, C.M. Nevison, and C.D. West (1999). Housing and welfare in laboratory rats: effects of cage stocking density and behavioural predictors of welfare. Animal Behaviour 58(Part 3): 563-586. ISSN: 0003-3472.
NAL Call Number: 410 B77
Descriptors: rats, stocking density, stress response, sex differences, physiopathology, animal welfare, aggressive behavior, grooming, physical activity, escape responses, kidneys, adrenal glands, IGG, thymus gland, corticosterone, blood serum, testosterone, blood picture, blood chemistry.

Hyman, S. and N.E. Rawson (2001). Preliminary results of olfactory testing in rats without deprivation. Lab Animal 30(1): 38-39. ISSN: 0093-7355.
NAL Call Number: QL55.A1L33
Descriptors: rats, laboratory mammals, water deprivation, food deprivation, smell, circadian rhythm, light regime, hyperglycemia, animal experiments, animal behavior, animal testing alternatives, animal use refinement.

Ibuka, N. and K. Fukumura (1997). Unpredictable deprivation of water increases the probability of torpor in the Syrian hamster. Physiology and Behavior 62(3): 551-556. ISSN: 0031-9384.
Descriptors: water, hamster, deprivation, torpor, probability, unpredictable.

Ichikawa, T., K. Ishihara, K. Nozue, S. Miyazawa, N. Nemoto, and K. Hotta (1998). Serum and antral gastrin levels in fed and fasted rats: relation to aging. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology, Part A, Molecular and Integrative Physiology 121(3): 223-228. ISSN: 1095-6433.
NAL Call Number: QP1.C6
Descriptors: rats, gastrin, starvation, aging, age, stomach, blood, gastrointestinal hormones, biological development, body parts, digestive system, feeding, gastrointestinal hormones, hormones, mammals, peptides, Rodentia.

Ikeda, M., M. Sagara, and S. Inoue (2000). Continuous exposure to dim illumination uncouples temporal patterns of sleep, body temperature, locomotion and drinking behavior in the rat. NeuroScience Letters 279(3): 185-189. ISSN: 0304-3940.
Descriptors: rat, dim illumination, continuous exposure, patterns, sleep, body temperature, locomotion, drinking, behavior.

Ikeda, S., S. Sukemori, Y. Kurihara, and S. Ito (1999). Changes in the frequency of coprophagy according to the growth of rats. Japanese Journal of Livestock Management 34(3): 71-75. ISSN: 1342-1131.
Descriptors: rats, coprophagia, age, body weight, feces, behavior, excreta, feeding habits, mammals, Rodentia.

Ikeda, S., S. Sukemori, Y. Kurihara, and S. Ito (2000). Frequency of coprophagy in aged rats. Journal of Agricultural Science (Tokyo) 45(2): 165-168. ISSN: 0375-9202.
Descriptors: rats, coprophagia, aging, behavior, behavior, biological development, feeding habits, mammals, Rodentia.
Language of Text: Japanese summary.

Iwakiri, R., Y. Gotoh, T. Noda, H. Sugihara, K. Fujimoto, J. Fuseler, and T.Y. Aw (2001). Programmed cell death in rat intestine: effect of feeding and fasting. Scandinavian Journal of Gastroenterology 36: 139-47. ISSN: 0036-5521.
Descriptors: rat intestine, programmed cell death, feeding, fasting, effect, apoptosis, luminal factors, DNA fragmentation.

Iwasaki, S., K. Inoue, N. Kiriike, and K. Hikiji (2000). Effect of maternal separation on feeding behavior of rats in later life. Physiology and Behavior 70(5): 551-556. ISSN: 0031-9384.
Descriptors: rats, maternal separation, effect, feeding behavior, hyperphagia, body weight, food consumption, postnatal, abnormal feeding behavior.

Jablonski, P., B.O. Howden, and K. Baxter (2001). Influence of buprenorphine analgesia on post-operative recovery in two strains of rats. Laboratory Animals 35(3): 213-222. ISSN: 0023-6772.
NAL Call Number: QL55.A1L3
Abstract: The objective of this study was to establish an effective post-operative analgesic regimen for Sprague-Dawley (SD) and Dark Agouti (DA) rats. Buprenorphine (0.01 or 0.05 mg/kg), a partial mu opioid agonist, was administered subcutaneously immediately on completion of a standardized surgical procedure, involving anaesthesia, laparotomy and visceral manipulation. Two of the four treatment groups and the saline control group received a second injection 9 h later. Behavioural observations by three independent observers provided no information in assessing pain in this model. All rats lost weight, consumed less food and water after surgery. On the first day, both SD and DA rats receiving buprenorphine lost less weight than untreated control groups. Using weight loss as an efficacy criterion, low-dose buprenorphine, given once or twice, provided effective analgesia in SD rats. A higher single dose provided no additional benefit and a second dose was detrimental, reducing body weight and food intake. In DA rats, the high dose, given twice, appeared to be more effective than the lower dose. All DA cage cohorts consumed <10% pre-operative food despite buprenorphine treatment, suggesting a higher dosage may be necessary. However, all SD and 80% DA rats who received no buprenorphine gained body weight on the second day, whereas most of the buprenorphine-treated rats continued to lose weight for another 2 days, despite increased food consumption by both strains. Buprenorphine may adversely affect intestinal function over a number of days due to its enterohepatic circulation; this effect may be more severe in DA rats. Adverse metabolic effects of buprenorphine and other opioids may preclude their use. in the future if it can be shown that non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) provide equally effective analgesia.
Descriptors: rats, strain differences, laboratory mammals, postoperative care, analgesics, pain, weight losses, feed intake, water intake, dosage, adverse effects, drug effects, pharmacokinetics, animal welfare, animal testing alternatives, animal use refinement.

Janczak, A.M., B.O. Braastad, and M. Bakken (2000). Fear-related behaviour in two mouse strains differing in litter size. Animal Welfare 9(1): 25-38. ISSN: 0962-7286.
NAL Call Number: HV4701.A557
Descriptors: mice, selection criteria, litter size, strain differences, fearfulness, anxiety, fighting, escape responses, animal behavior, animal welfare.

Jasmin, L. and P.T. Ohara (2001). Long-term intrathecal catheterization in the rat. Journal of NeuroScience Methods 110(1-2): 81-9. ISSN: 0165-0270.
Abstract: We report an intrathecal (i.t.) catheter system that permits repeated administration of volumes of 10 microl or more in the awake rat over many months. A small skin incision is made and a 32 ga polyurethane catheter is inserted in the sacral subarachnoid space using a modified 22 ga needle. The other end of the catheter is tunneled subcutaneously to the flank and exteriorized through a titanium port. The device is well tolerated, does not cause sensory or motor deficits, and does not interfere with behavioral testing. Rats equipped with this device can be housed with other rats. Over the 9 month observation period the function of the catheter was verified by repeated injection of 15 microl of 2% lidocaine that caused temporary paraplegia. Out of 12 implanted rats, the number of fully functional catheters was 10 at 3 months, seven at 6 months, and six at 9 months. At 3 months, i.t. injection of anti-dopamine-beta-hydroxylase antibodies conjugated to saporin (DBH-SAP, 5 microg/10 microl) resulted in noradrenergic denervation of the spinal cord in all rats (n=10). We propose that intrathecal catheterization is well suited for long term behavioral and pharmacological studies.
Descriptors: antigens, CD antigens, neoplasm antigens, surface, avian proteins, spinal cord drug effects, subarachnoid space drug effects, catheters, indwelling adverse effects, animal disease models, dopamine-beta-hydroxylase antagonists and inhibitors, dopamine-beta-hydroxylase metabolism, glial fibrillary acidic protein, immunohistochemistry, injections, spinal adverse effects, spinal methods, membrane glycoproteins metabolism, neurotoxins pharmacology, paralysis chemically induced, paralysis physiopathology, rats, Sprague Dawley rats, spinal cord physiopathology, spinal cord surgery, spinal cord diseases chemically induced, spinal cord diseases physiopathology, subarachnoid space surgery, time factors.

Jenkins, E.S. and R.D. Combes (1999). The welfare problems associated with using transgenic mice to bioassay for bovine spongiform encephalopathy. Animal Welfare 8(4): 421-431. ISSN: 0962-7286.
NAL Call Number: HV4701.A557
Descriptors: transgenic mice, bioassay, bovine spongiform encephalopathy, welfare problems, prion disease, Porter ethical score system, evaluation method, distress, pain.

Jensen, S.P., S.J. Gray, and J.L. Hurst (2003). How does habitat structure affect activity and use of space among house mice? Animal Behaviour 66(2): 239-250. ISSN: 0003-3472.
NAL Call Number: 410 B77
Descriptors: mice, activity, habitat structure, space use, open site, protected site, food.

Jones, J.S. and K.E. Wynne Edwards (2000). Paternal hamsters mechanically assist the delivery, consume amniotic fluid and placenta, remove fetal membranes, and provide parental care during the birth process. Hormones and Behavior 37(2): 116-125. ISSN: 0018-506X.
Descriptors: hamsters, paternal care, behavior, delivery, placenta, fetal membrane, birth process, mechanically assist, paternal behavior.

Jones, M.A., J.M. Vanness, and J.M. Overton (1997). Short-term food deprivation reduces blood pressure in spontaneously hypertensive rats (shr). FASEB Journal 11(3): A467. ISSN: 0892-6638.
Descriptors: rats, hypertensive, blood pressure, food deprivation, short term, reduces.
Notes: Meeting Information: Annual Meeting of the Professional Research Scientists on Experimental Biology 97, April 6-9, 1997, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.

Jones, M.A., J.M. Vanness, M. Casto, and J.M. Overton (1998). Influence of food deprivation on sympathetic support of blood pressure in the spontaneously hypertensive rat. Nutrition Research 18(9): 1581-1594. ISSN: 0271-5317.
Descriptors: food deprivation, hypertensive, rat, blood pressure, influence, sympathetic support, hypertensive.

Kaiser, S., T. Nubold, I. Rohlmann, and N. Sachser (2003). Pregnant female guinea pigs adapt easily to a new social environment irrespective of their rearing conditions. Physiology and Behavior 80(1): 147-53. ISSN: 0031-9384.
Abstract: For male guinea pigs, the social rearing conditions are crucial for the course of social interactions and endocrine stress responses in later life. While colony-reared males adjust easily to new social situations, high levels of aggression and extreme endocrine responses are found in males that were raised in pairs [Psychoneuroendocrinology 23 (1998) 891]. This study investigated whether the same finding also applies to females. Therefore, 8 females reared in mixed-sexed colonies of 8-10 males and 12-13 females (designated as CF) and 8 females reared in mixed-sexed pairs (designated as PF) were transferred to an unknown colony for 3 days. Control females remained in their respective housing conditions. Serum cortisol concentrations (CORT) were determined before, during and after the transfer. The behavior of the CF and PF was recorded on the first, second and third day of transfer. All females adjusted easily to the new social situation, but frequencies of some behavioral patterns were significantly different between CF and PF. In the new social situation, PF displayed social orientation as well as defensive aggressive and avoidance behavior more frequently than CF. On the day of transfer, resident males displayed courtship behavior more frequently towards PF than CF. CORT did not differ between PF and CF either before, during or after the transfer. Furthermore, the transfer to the new social situation did not result in significantly increased CORT 4 h later either in CF or PF. We conclude that-in contrast to male guinea pigs-females are able to adapt to unfamiliar conspecifics independently of their social rearing conditions.
Descriptors: behavior, animal physiology, hydrocortisone blood, pregnancy psychology, social behavior, social environment, adaptation, psychological physiology, guinea pigs, housing, pregnancy, blood.

Kaliste Korhonen, E. and S. Eskola (2000). Fighting in NIH/S male mice: consequences for behaviour in resident-intruder tests and physiological parameters. Laboratory Animals 34(2): 189-198. ISSN: 0023-6772.
NAL Call Number: QL55.A1L3
Descriptors: mice, fighting, social dominance, individual characteristics, aggressive behavior, test procedure, wounds, body weight, testes, spleen, adrenal glands, epididymis, weight, adipose tissue, blood serum, corticosterone, animal experiments, animal welfare.

Karolewicz, B. and I.A. Paul (2001). Group housing of mice increases immobility and antidepressant sensitivity in the forced swim and tail suspension tests. European Journal of Pharmacology 415(2-3): 197-201. ISSN: 0014-2999.
Abstract: The forced swim test and tail suspension test are often used in laboratory practice to identify compounds that possess antidepressant-like activity. This experiment was conducted to determine whether housing conditions per se influence the response of mice in these antidepressant screening procedures. Male NIH Swiss mice were housed individually or in groups (five per cage) for 8 weeks prior to testing. After 8 weeks, the animals were exposed to the forced swim and tail-suspension tests. Group housed mice displayed high levels of immobility in the forced swim and tail suspension tests. Desipramine injection 60 min prior testing, in doses 7.5 and 15 mg/kg, produced significant reductions in the immobility time in forced swimming and tail suspension tests. Individually housed mice, when exposed to these tests, displayed lower levels of immobility with a magnitude comparable to the effect of desipramine in group housed mice. Desipramine given to individually housed mice did not reduce the duration of immobility either in the forced swim test or in the tail suspension test. These results indicate that both tests are sensitive to housing conditions. This observation suggests that long lasting group housing may be critical to the behavioral response in these preclinical screening procedures in mice.
Descriptors: antidepressive agents, tricyclic pharmacology, behavior, animal drug effects, desipramine pharmacology, housing, animal, immobilization, stress drug therapy, antidepressive agents, tricyclic therapeutic use, desipramine therapeutic use, mice.

Kask, A., H.P. Nguyen, R. Pabst, and S. Von Horsten (2001). Factors influencing behavior of group-housed male rats in the social interaction test: focus on cohort removal. Physiology and Behavior 74(3): 277-82. ISSN: 0031-9384.
Abstract: The rat social interaction (SI) test is used widely to measure anxiety-like behavior, yet the influence of various factors such as testing time, pre-experimental manipulations (transport stress), and testing of animals from the same cage (cohort removal, CR) on SI has not been systematically studied. We measured SI behavior of male triad-housed Wistar rats in a novel dimly lit arena (low light unfamiliar, LU) and found that SI time is higher in the beginning of the activity (dark) phase when compared with SI time in first half of the light phase. Furthermore, SI time is significantly increased by habituation of animals to the testing room during light phase, but this intervention has no effect in early dark phase when SI behavior is already maximal. Sequential removal of rats from the home cage led to the stress-like behavioral and physiological consequences. Rats removed in the last position had shorter SI time and higher body temperature. These data demonstrate that SI is higher during early dark vs. early light phase and confirm that CR has anxiogenic-like effects in rats. We conclude that the usage of sequentially removed group-housed rats in behavioral tests can be a source for considerable variation due to anxiety that develops in animals remaining in the cage. On the other hand, CR may be a useful method to study behavioral/neurochemical mechanisms of psychogenic stress in rats.
Descriptors: arousal, social behavior, social environment, circadian rhythm, habituation psychophysiology, rats, Wistar rats.

Korystov, Y.N., A.V. Kulikov, L.V. Arkhipova, G.N. Smirnova, V.V. Shaposhnikova, M.K. Levitman, and L.M. Chailakhyan (2003). Social stress in groups of mice: methods for recording conflicts and their consequences. Doklady Biological Sciences Proceedings of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR 390: 271-3. ISSN: 0012-4966.
Descriptors: conflict psychology, mice, inbred strains physiology, social behavior, stress, psychological metabolism, age factors, body weight, cell count, animal housing, mice, inbred mice strains psychology, tape recording, thymus gland cytology, time factors.
Notes: Biological sciences sections translated from Russian.

Koutoku, T., T. Nakanishi, T. Takagi, I. Yamasaki, R. Zhang, K. Sashihara, E.S. Saito, S. Saito, and M. Furuse (2003). Effect of environmental lighting on aggressive and anxious behavior in male mice. Journal of Applied Animal Research 23(1): 65-74. ISSN: 0971-2119.
Abstract: To study the influence of the different conditions of environmental lighting on aggressive behaviour and open field activity, male mice were kept under different conditions of environmental lighting, i.e., (A) 12-hour each light and dark (LD), (B) continuous light (LL) and (C) continuous dark (DD) for 27 days. Although no significant differences were observed among three groups, LL and DD conditions tended to show the inhibitory effect on aggression. In the open field test, the crossing, the time and the path significantly increased with the length of lighting period, but rearing and defaecation were not affected. The amounts of monoamines and their metabolites in the cerebellum, cerebrum and brainstem were hardly affected by lighting conditions. Taken together, DD condition was most preferable for mice to keep calm rather LL condition.
Descriptors: aggression, aggressive behavior, animal behavior, brain, light relations, lighting, monoamines, physical activity, mice.
Language of Text: Hindi summary.

Kowalski, T.J., R.C. Young, and G.P. Smith (1998). Deprivation of food and water, not maternal separation, increases neuropeptide Y expression in lean Zucker rat pups. Society for Neuroscience Abstracts 24(1-2): 448. ISSN: 0190-5295.
Descriptors: food, water, deprivation, neuropeptide Y, expression, rat, pups.
Notes: Meeting Information: 28th Annual Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, Part 1, November 7-12, 1998, Los Angeles, California, USA.

Koyama, S. (2004). Primer effects by conspecific odors in house mice: a new perspective in the study of primer effects on reproductive activities. Hormones and Behavior 46(3): 303-310. ISSN: 0018-506X.
Abstract: Half a century has passed since the first report of the influence of odors on mice. Odors are known to influence behavior (signaling effect) and affect the physiology (primer effect) of mice. This review focuses on summarizing the primer effects found so far in female and male mice. Odors from conspecifics of the opposite sex had the tendency to enhance reproductive activities, whereas odors from conspecifics of the same sex diminish them. Only 2,5-dimethylpyrazine, one of the odor components identified in group-housed females, has been reported to have a suppressive influence on both males and females by lowering reproductive activities. Studies showed progress from the discovery of phenomena to the identification of odor components that cause such changes in reproductive organs and related neuroendocrinological changes. Compared to studies on the mechanisms of primer effects in females, the mechanisms in males are not yet clarified, and detailed studies on effects on the reproductive organs are still in primitive stages especially for males. Hypotheses on the influence of changes in the concentration of testosterone, estrogen, and prolactin on spermatogenesis and sperm maturation after exposure to odors are discussed.
Descriptors: conspecific odors, reviews, sex differences, reproduction, pheromones, odor, suppression, neuroendocrine system, testosterone, estrogens, prolactin, spermatogenesis, mice, 2,5 dimethylpyrazine.

Krarup, A., P. Chattopadhyay, A.K. Bhattacharjee, J.R. Burge, and G.R. Ruble (1999). Evaluation of surrogate markers of impending death in the galactosamine-sensitized murine model of bacterial endotoxemia. Laboratory Animal Science 49(5): 545-550. ISSN: 0023-6764.
NAL Call Number: 410.9 P94
Descriptors: mice, death, lethal dose, endotoxins, body temperature regulation, coat, posture, consciousness, locomotion, euthanasia, humane endpoints, distress, animal use refinement.

Krebs, H., M. Macht, P. Weyers, H.G. Weijers, and W. Janke (1996). Effects of stressful noise on eating and non-eating behavior in rats. Appetite 26(2): 193-202. ISSN: 0195-6663.
NAL Call Number: QP141.A1A64
Descriptors: noise, feeding, behavior, rats, food intake, feeding habits, stress, behavior, feeding habits, mammals, pollutants, Rodentia.

Krohn, T.C., A.K. Hansen, and N. Dragsted (2003). Telemetry as a method for measuring the impact of housing conditions on rats' welfare. Animal Welfare 12(1): 53-62. ISSN: 0962-7286.
NAL Call Number: HV4701.A557
Descriptors: rats, laboratory mammals, cages, floor type, grid floors, litter, floors, plastic panels, stress factors, heart rate, blood pressure, body temperature, telemetry, animal welfare, animal preferences.

Krohn, T.C., K. Hejgaard, and A.K. Hansen (2001). Methods for general assessment of the welfare of laboratory rats. Acta Agriculturae Scandinavica Section A, Animal Science 51(Supplement 30): 118-123. ISSN: 0906-4702.
Descriptors: animal welfare, behavior assessment, laboratory animals, physiology, reviews, methods, rats.

Krohn, T.C. and A.K. Hansen (2002). The application of traditional behavioural and physiological methods for monitoring of the welfare impact of different flooring conditions in rodents. Scandinavian Journal of Laboratory Animal Science 29(2): 79-89. ISSN: 0901-3393.
Descriptors: rodents, flooring conditions, welfare, behavior, rats, mice, environmental impacts, grid housing.

Larsson, F., B. Winblad, and A.H. Mohammed (2002). Psychological stress and environmental adaptation in enriched vs. impoverished housed rats. Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behavior 73(1): 193-207. ISSN: 0091-3057.
Abstract: In this study, we report differential behavioural and cognitive effects, as assessed in the open-field and the Morris water maze, following psychological stress in enriched vs. impoverished housed rats. Three stress conditions were evaluated: nonstress, mild stress and powerful stress. Mild stress consisted of exposure to an avoidance box but without shock, while in the powerful stress condition animals were exposed to an electric shock. The results revealed distinct effects in the differentially housed animals. Prior exposure to a mild stress enhanced escape performance in the water maze in enriched but not impoverished animals. However, preexposure to powerful stress negatively affected animals from both housing conditions in the water maze task, but with the enriched animals less affected than impoverished animals. In the open-field test, stress preexposure reduced locomotion counts in both the differentially housed animals. In addition, the results showed that the enrichment effect on emotional reactivity in the open-field is long-lasting and persists even after extensive training and housing in standard laboratory conditions. The results are discussed in relation to the nature of the behavioural and learning differences between the differentially housed animals.
Descriptors: environment, escape reaction, maze learning, motor activity, stress, psychological psychology, housing, animal statistics and numerical data, rats, Sprague Dawley rats.

Latham, N. and G. Mason (2004). From house mouse to mouse house: the behavioural biology of free-living Mus musculus and its implications in the laboratory. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 86(3-4): 261-289. ISSN: 0168-1591.
NAL Call Number: QL750.A6
Abstract: Understanding a species' behaviour in natural conditions can give insights into its development, responses and welfare in captivity. Here, we review research and pest control literatures on the free-living house mouse (Mus musculus), analysing its sensory world, developmental processes and behaviour to suggest how laboratory environments might affect mouse welfare, normalcy, test design, and behaviour. Mouse development from foetus to weaning is influenced by prenatal stress and nutrient levels, and post-natal litter size and other factors affecting maternal care, all with lasting effects on adult bodyweight, aggression, activity levels, stress responsiveness and masculinisation. These influences may well be important in the laboratory, for example unwittingly differing between facilities leading to site-differences in phenotype. Murine senses are dominated by olfactory, auditory and tactile cues. Their hearing extends into the ultrasonic, and vision, from mid-range wavelengths to the ultraviolet. In mouse facilities, behaviour and welfare may therefore also be affected by sensory stimuli unnoticed by humans. The physical and social environment and behaviour of wild mice differ greatly from those of laboratory mice. Dispersal age varies with resource-levels and social cues, and mice often either live alone or in family groups. Mice occupy territories/ranges measuring a few square meters to several square kilometers, and which allow running, climbing, and burrowing. Mice are often active during dawn/dusk, and spend their time patrolling their territories, investigating neighbours' odour cues, foraging, finding mates and rearing litters. The potential impact of these many differences and restrictions on laboratory mouse development, normalcy and welfare has only begun to be explored.
Descriptors: mouse, behavior, natural conditions, welfare, free living, stress, biology, laboratory, captivity.

Laviola, G., M. Rea, S. Morley Fletcher, S. Di Carlo, A. Bacosi, R. De Simone, M. Bertini, and R. Pacifici (2004). Beneficial effects of enriched environment on adolescent rats from stressed pregnancies. European Journal of Neuroscience 20(6): 1655-1664. ISSN: 0953-816X.
Abstract: The capacity of an early environmental intervention to normalize the behavioural and immunological dysfunctions produced by a stressed pregnancy was investigated. Pregnant Sprague-Dawley rats underwent three 45-min sessions per day of prenatal restraint stress (PS) on gestation days 11-21, and their offspring were assigned to either an enriched-environment or standard living cages throughout adolescence [postnatal days (pnd) 22-43]. Juvenile rats from stressed pregnancies had a prominent depression of affiliative/playful behaviour and of basal circulating CD4 T lymphocytes, CD8 T lymphocytes and T4/T8 ratio. They also showed increased emotionality and spleen and brain frontal cortex levels of pro-inflammatory interleoukin-1beta (IL-1beta) cytokine. A more marked response to cyclophosphamide (CPA: two 2 mg/kg IP injections) induced immunosuppression was also found in prenatal stressed rats. Enriched housing increased the amount of time adolescent PS rats spent in positive species-typical behaviours (i.e. play behaviour), reduced emotionality and reverted most of immunological alterations. In addition to its effects in PS rats, enriched housing increased anti-inflammatory IL-2 and reduced pro-inflammatory IL-1beta production by activated splenocytes, also producing a marked alleviation of CPA-induced immune depression. In the brain, enriched housing increased IL-1beta values in hypothalamus, while slightly normalizing these values in the frontal cortex from PS rats. This is a first indication that an environmental intervention, such as enriched housing, during adolescence can beneficially affect basal immune parameters and rats response to both early stress and drug-induced immunosuppression.
Descriptors: rats, stressed, enriched environment, beneficial effects, pregnancies, behavioral, immunological.

Leach, M.C., V.A. Bowell, T.F. Allan, and D.B. Morton (2002). Aversion to gaseous euthanasia agents in rats and mice. Comparative Medicine 52(3): 249-257. ISSN: 1532-0820.
NAL Call Number: SF77.C65
Abstract: Despite euthanasia being the most common of all procedures carried out on laboratory animals, the potential distress associated with gaseous agents has received little interest until recently, with growing concern over use of carbon dioxide as a humane method of euthanasia. The distress associated with exposure to carbon dioxide, argon, and carbon dioxide-argon mixtures was investigated in rats and mice by measuring the degree of aversion on exposure to low, medium, and high concentrations of these agents. Animals were exposed to the various concentrations in a test chamber containing air or gas mixtures that they were able to enter and leave at will. Aversion was assessed, using measurements of initial withdrawal time and total dwelling time in the test chamber, as they were the most sensitive measurements of aversion. Comparisons between euthanasia agent and control (air) treatments indicated that concentrations of agents recommended for rapid and efficient induction are associated with some degree of aversion. Carbon dioxide and the carbon dioxide-argon mixtures were more aversive than was argon for rats and mice. These findings suggest that induction with carbon dioxide either alone or in combination with argon is likely to cause considerable distress before the loss of consciousness in rodents, which is unacceptable considering that effective and more humane alternatives are available.
Descriptors: rats, mice, laboratory mammals, euthanasia, hypoxia, carbon dioxide, argon, mixtures, escape responses, animal welfare, distress, animal use refinement.

Leach, M.C., V.A. Bowell, T.F. Allan, and D.B. Morton (2002). Degrees of aversion shown by rats and mice to different concentrations of inhalational anaesthetics. Veterinary Record 150(26): 808-815. ISSN: 0042-4900.
NAL Call Number: 41.8 V641
Descriptors: inhaled anesthetics, halothane, isoflurane, carbon dioxide, concentration, rats, mice, animal behavior, animal welfare, enflurane.

Leach, M.C., D.C.J. Main, and P.D. Thornton (2004). Development of a welfare benchmarking protocol for laboratory mice. Animal Welfare 13, Supplement: S246-S247. ISSN: 0962-7286.
NAL Call Number: HV4701.A557
Descriptors: mice, welfare protocol, development, UFAW, Universities Federation for Animal Welfare, symposium, animal welfare, laboratory animals.
Notes: Meeting Information: Universities Federation for Animal Welfare (UFAW) Symposium on Science in the Service of Animal Welfare, Animal Welfare, Edinburgh, UK, April 02-04, 2003.

Leenaars, P.P.A.M., M.A. Koedam, P.W. Wester, V. Baumans, E. Claassen, and C.F.M. Hendriksen (1998). Assessment of side effects induced by injection of different adjuvant/antigen combinations in rabbits and mice. Laboratory Animals 32(4): 387-406. ISSN: 0023-6772.
NAL Call Number: QL55.A1L3
Abstract: We evaluated the side effects induced by injection of Freund's adjuvant (FA) and alternative adjuvants combined with different antigens. Rabbits and mice were injected subcutaneously, intramuscularly (rabbits) and intraperitoneally (mice) with different adjuvants (FA, Specol, RIBI, TiterMax, Montanide ISA50) in combination with several types of antigens (synthetic peptides, autoantigen, glycolipid, protein, mycoplasma or viruses). The effects of treatment on the animals' well-being were assessed by clinical and behavioural changes (POT and LABORAS assays) and gross and histopathological changes. In rabbits, treatment did not appear to induce acute or prolonged pain and distress. Mice showed behavioural changes immediately after (predominantly secondary) immunization. Injection of several adjuvant/antigen mixtures resulted in severe pathological changes, depending on adjuvant, type of antigen, animal species used and route of injection. Both rabbits and mice showed pathological changes ranging from marked to severe after injection of FA, and ranging from minimal to marked after Specol and Montanide injections. Pathological changes after RIBI injections were severe in rabbits, though slight in mice. After TiterMax injections, pathological changes were moderate in rabbits, though severe in mice. In conclusion, injection of FA according to present guidelines resulted mostly in severe pathological changes, whereas only very few clinical and behavioural signs indicated prolonged severe pain. Our findings indicate that Montanide ISA50 and Specol induce acceptable antibody titres, and cause fewer pathological changes than FA. Thus they are effective alternatives to FA.
Descriptors: rabbits, mice, adverse effects, adjuvants, antigens, animal welfare, species differences, immune response, intramuscular injection, intraperitoneal injection, subcutaneous injection, pain, antibody formation, immunization, lesions, histopathology.

Lesage, J., F. Del Favero, M. Leonhardt, H. Louvart, S. Maccari, D. Vieau, and M. Darnaudery (2004). Prenatal stress induces intrauterine growth restriction and programmes glucose intolerance and feeding behaviour disturbances in the aged rat. Journal of Endocrinology 181(2): 291-296. ISSN: 0022-0795.
Descriptors: rat, aged, prenatal stress, intrauterine, growth restriction, feeding behavior, glucose intolerance, hyperglycemia, programming.

Levine, S. and A. Saltzman (2002). Acute uremia in rats: feeding sucrose overnight is preferable to starvation. Renal Failure 24(2): 127-131. ISSN: 0886-022X.
Descriptors: rats, starvation, acute uremia, feeding sucrose, gastrointestinal tract, overnight fast, liver weight loss, alternative.

Levy, F., A.I. Melo, B.G.J. Galef, M. Madden, and A.S. Fleming (2003). Complete maternal deprivation affects social, but not spatial, learning in adult rats. Developmental Psychobiology 43(3): 177-191. ISSN: 0012-1630.
Descriptors: rats, adult, maternal deprivation, affects, social learning, spatial learning, tactile stimulation, performance, social interactions.

Lino De Oliveira, C., T.C.M. De Lima, and A. De Padua Carobrez (2005). Structure of the rat behaviour in the forced swimming test. Behavioural Brain Research 158(2): 243-250. ISSN: 0166-4328.
Descriptors: behavior, methods and techniques, forced swimming test, clinical techniques, diagnostic techniques, antidepressant drug screening.

Linthorst, A.C.E., C. Flachskamm, and J.M.H. Reul (2001). Hippocampal serotonin responses to forced swim stress in rats: influence of water temperature. Society for Neuroscience Abstracts 27(1): 1104. ISSN: 0190-5295.
Descriptors: rats, forced swim stress, water temperature, hippocampal serotonin responses, behavior, varied water temperatures.
Notes: Meeting Information: 31st Annual Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, November 10-15, 2001, San Diego, California, USA.

Lovic, V., A. Gonzalez, and A.S. Fleming (2001). Maternally separated rats show deficits in maternal care in adulthood. Developmental Psychobiology 39(1): 19-33. ISSN: 0012-1630.
Descriptors: rats, behavior, maternally separated, adulthood, maternal care, deficits, early experience, adult behavior.

Luis, J., F.A. Cervantes, M. Martinez, R. Cardenas, J. Delgado, and A. Carmona (2004). Male influence on maternal behavior and offspring of captive volcano mice (Neotomodon alstoni) from Mexico. Journal of Mammalogy 85(2): 268-272. ISSN: 0022-2372.
Descriptors: Neotomodon alstoni, parental care, males, growth, survival, Mexico, male parental care, offspring survival and growth relations, volcano mice, behavior.

Madrid, J.A., F.J. Sanchez Vazquez, P. Lax, P. Matas, E.M. Cuenca, and S. Zamora (1998). Feeding behavior and entrainment limits in the circadian system of the rat. American Journal of Physiology 275(2, Part 2): R372-R383. ISSN: 0002-9513.
NAL Call Number: 447.8 Am3
Descriptors: biological rhythms, meal patterns, rats, feeding habits, behavior, feeding, mammals, Rodentia, circadian rhythm, eating patterns.

Maldonado, A.M. and C.L. Kirstein (2005). Handling alters cocaine-induced activity in adolescent but not adult male rats. Physiology and Behavior 84(2): 321-326. ISSN: 0031-9384.
Descriptors: behavior, development, pharmacology, locomotor activity.

Mandillo, S. and F.R. D'Amato (1997). Effect of strange male odour on parental care in lactating female mice. Animal Behaviour 54(4): 901-910. ISSN: 0003-3472.
NAL Call Number: 410 B77
Descriptors: lactation, mice, behavior, young animals, age, reproductive performance, smell, males, side effects, maternal behavior, behavior, mammals, physiological functions, Rodentia, secretion, sex, lactation stage, odors, adverse effects.

Mang'era, K., M. Krzyzelewski, S. Greaves, D. Greenberg, and M. Billinghurst (2005). Molecular-size fractionation of pentastarch, radiolabelling with tc-99m, and evaluation of biological behaviour in mice. Nuclear Medicine Communications 26(4): 375-381. ISSN: 0143-3636.
Descriptors: blood and lymphatics, transport and circulation, radiation biology, radiolabeling, laboratory techniques, behavior, stability, fractionation.

Manni, L., A. Antonelli, N. Costa, and L. Aloe (2005). Stress alters vascular-endothelial growth factor expression in rat arteries: role of nerve growth factor. Basic Research in Cardiology 100(2): 121-130. ISSN: 0300-8428.
Abstract: The aim of this study was to investigate the role of stress and nerve growth factor (NGF) on the expression of vascular-endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and NGF high-affinity receptor ( tyrosine kinase A, TrKA) in the ascending and abdominal aorta. Adult male rats were exposed to immobilization stress for one hour or injected with purified murine NGF. Four hours after treatments, rats were sacrificed and VEGF, NGF and TrkA expression in ascending and abdominal aorta evaluated. The effects of anti-NGF treatment on arterial VEGF expression and on stress-induced arterial cell proliferation were also studied in control and stressed rats. The data indicated that both stress and NGF injection induced a rapid increase of arterial VEGF associated with an elevated level of NGF and TrkA in arterial tissues. Blocking NGF action by neutralizing NGF-antibodies, results in down-regulation of stress-induced VEGF expression by arteries and in the blockade of stress-induced proliferation of cells from the arterial wall. Overall our data demonstrated that NGF is involved in the regulation of VEGF and in cardiac vessels response after emotional stress.
Descriptors: rat, arteries, nerve, growth factor, stress, vascular, endothelial, expression.

Marashi, V., A. Barnekow, E. Ossendorf, and N. Sachser (2003). Effects of different forms of environmental enrichment on behavioral, endocrinological, and immunological parameters in male mice. Hormones and Behavior 43(2): 281-92. ISSN: 0018-506X.
Descriptors: aggression physiology, corticosterone blood, housing, animal, pituitary adrenal system physiology, social environment, antigens, surface analysis, cytokines analysis, immunoglobulin G blood, mice, inbred mice strains, stress, psychological blood, tyrosine 3 monooxygenase blood.

Marchlewska Koj, A., J. Kapusta, and M. Kruczek (2003). Prenatal stress modifies behavior in offspring of bank voles (Clethrionomys glareolus). Physiology and Behavior 79(4-5): 671-8. ISSN: 0031-9384.
Abstract: The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of prenatal stress on behavior of adult bank vole males and females. Pregnant females were submitted to stress by short encounters of two females at the same stage of pregnancy, to crowded condition by transfer to a cage with four to five nonpregnant females, or stressed by immobilization. The stressors were applied on Days 13, 14, and 15 of pregnancy. The results indicate that prenatal stress influenced adult offspring behavior tested in the presence of the same sex, as compared to controls. Females and males differ in their reactions to stress. Prenatal stress decreased the nonaggressive behavior of females but males did not change their amicable approaches toward males. In bank vole males, prenatal social or immobilization stress increased aggression, but females made more attacks only after prenatal stressing by immobilization. This indicates that in bank vole females classical stressor involved different mediators from those associated with prenatal social stresses. Our results indicate that prenatal stress in bank voles decreases the social activity of female offspring and increases aggression in male offspring. Social stress applied to females in late pregnancy may increase the number of aggressive males in a population.
Descriptors: aggression physiology, microtinae physiology, prenatal exposure delayed effects, social environment, stress physiopathology, immobilization physiology, maternal exposure, sex factors, stress classification.

Margulis, S.W., M. Nabong, G. Alaks, A. Walsh, and R.C. Lacy (2005). Effects of early experience on subsequent parental behaviour and reproductive success in oldfield mice, Peromyscus polionotus. Animal Behaviour 69: 627-634. ISSN: 0003-3472.
NAL Call Number: 410 B77
Descriptors: behavior, terrestrial ecology, ecology, environmental sciences, reproduction, reproductive success, parental behavior, experience.

Martins, M.J., C. Hipolito Reis, and I. Azevedo (2001). Effect of fasting on rat duodenal and jejunal microvilli. Clinical Nutrition 20(4): 325-331. ISSN: 0261-5614.
Descriptors: rat, fasting, effect, duodenal, jejunal, microvilli, morphology, apoptosis, desquamation, refeeding.

Masini, C.V., S. Sauer, and S. Campeau (2005). Ferret odor as a processive stress model in rats: neurochemical, behavioral, and endocrine evidence. Behavioral Neuroscience 119(1): 280-292. ISSN: 0735-7044.
NAL Call Number: QP351.B45
Abstract: Predator odors have been shown to elicit stress responses in rats. The present studies assessed the use of domestic ferret odor as a processive stress model. Plasma corticosterone and adrenocorticotropin hormone levels were higher after 30 min of exposure to ferret odor (fur/skin) but not control odors, ferret feces, urine, or anal gland secretions. Behavioral differences were also found between ferret and the control odors as tested in a defensive withdrawal paradigm. In addition, c-fos messenger RNA expression in several brain areas previously associated with processive stress was significantly higher in ferret odor-exposed rat brains than in control odor-exposed brains. These results suggest that ferret odor produces a reliable unconditioned stress response and may be useful as a processive stress model.
Descriptors: behavior, biochemistry and molecular biophysics, endocrine system, chemical coordination and homeostasis, nervous system, neural coordination, behavioral difference, ferret odor, processive stress model, stress response.

McGlone, J.J., D.L. Anderson, and R.L. Norman (2001). Floor space needs for laboratory mice: BALB/cJ males or females in solid-bottom cages with bedding. Contemporary Topics in Laboratory Animal Science 40(3): 21-5. ISSN: 1060-0558.
NAL Call Number: SF405.5.A23
Abstract: Studies were initiated to determine the effects of restricted (32.2 cm2 per mouse), normal (96.8 cm2), or excess floor space (129.0 cm2) allowances by using a model of three mice per cage. BALB/cJ mice were bred on-site and weaned at 3 weeks of age into specially designed polycarbonate shoebox cages modified to each space allowance. Cages contained aspen shavings for bedding, and mice were fed and watered ad libitum. Body weight gains, feed and water use, and immunologic measures largely were not effected by floor space allowances. Female BALB/cJ mice were heavier and had increased lymphocyte blastogenesis to phytohemagglutinin (20 microg/mL) when given 32.2 cm2/mouse than when given 129 cm2/mouse. Female mice showed an increase in grooming and sitting behaviors when given 32.2 cm2/mouse, but male mice with restricted floor space spent more time lying down but showed no change in grooming or sitting behaviors compared to mice given more space. Among male mice, limited floor space did not significantly influence growth rates, but male mice given 32.2 cm2/mouse had less mortality than did mice given more space. We conclude that floor spaces as limited as 32.2 cm2/mouse did not cause behavior, health, immune or performance problems for BALB/cJ mice.
Descriptors: mice, male, female, floor space, bedding, solid bottom cages, space, restricted, normal, excess, effects.

Mcguire, B. (2003). Paternal care and its effect on maternal behavior and pup survival and development in prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster). In: Exploring Animal Behavior in Laboratory and Field: An Hypothesis Testing Approach to the Development, Causation, Function, and Evolution of Animal Behavior, Academic Press Inc.: San Diego, CA, USA; London, UK, p. 167-176. ISBN: 0125583303.
Descriptors: prairie voles, pup survival, maternal behavior, paternal care, effect, development.

Mcintosh, J., H. Anisman, and Z. Merali (1999). Short- and long-periods of neonatal maternal separation differentially affect anxiety and feeding in adult rats: gender-dependent effects. Developmental Brain Research 113(1-2): 97-106.
Descriptors: rats, neonatal maternal separation, short periods, long periods, anxiety, feeding, affect, gender dependent effects, adult rats.

Mcquade, R., P.J. Tyrrell, and S.C. Stanford (1998). The effect of microdialysis probe implantation on behaviour of rats in the light/dark box. British Journal of Pharmacology 123(Supplement): 244. ISSN: 0007-1188.
Descriptors: rats, behavior, adverse effects, microdialysis probe, implantation, light, dark box, meeting abstract.
Notes: Meeting Information: Meeting of the British Pharmacological Society held jointly with Dutch Pharmacological Society, The Belgian Society for Fundamental and Clinical Physiology and Pharmacology, December 10-12, 1997, Harrogate, England, UK.

Meerlo, P., A. Sgoifo, S.F. De Boer, and J.M. Koolhaas (1999). Long-lasting consequences of a social conflict in rats: behavior during the interaction predicts subsequent changes in daily rhythms of heart rate, temperature, and activity. Behavioral Neuroscience 113(6): 1283-90. ISSN: 0735-7044.
NAL Call Number: QP351.B45
Abstract: This study shows that the long-term consequences of a social conflict in rats do not depend on the physical intensity of the fight in terms of aggression received but, especially, on how the subjects deal with it. Experimental rats were introduced into the cage of an aggressive conspecific for 1 hr, and the effects on daily rhythms of heart rate, body temperature, and activity thereafter were measured by means of telemetry. In some rats, the confrontation caused a strong decrease in the daily rhythm amplitude that lasted up to 3 weeks, whereas other subjects showed only minor changes. The changes in rhythm amplitude did not correlate with the number of attacks received from the territory owner. Contrary to this, the changes showed a clear negative correlation with the aggression of the experimental rats themselves. Subjects fighting back and counterattacking the cage owner subsequently had a smaller reduction in rhythm amplitude.
Descriptors: aggression physiology, behavior, animal physiology, body temperature physiology, conflict psychology, heart rate physiology, motor activity physiology, circadian rhythm physiology, rats, social behavior, time factors.

Mertens, C. (2000). Phenotype characterization and welfare assessment of transgenic rodents (mice). Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science 3(2): 127-139. ISSN: 1088-8705.
NAL Call Number: HV4701.J68
Descriptors: mice, transgenic animals, progeny testing, screening, phenotypes, strain differences, animal welfare, congenital abnormalities, postnatal development, animal health, data collection.

Mill, J., M.J. Galsworthy, J.L. Paya Cano, F. Sluyter, L.C. Schalkwyk, R. Plomin, and P. Asherson (2002). Home-cage activity in heterogeneous stock (HS) mice as a model of baseline activity. Genes, Brain, and Behavior 1(3): 166-73. ISSN: 1601-1848.
Abstract: Behavioral genetic work in humans indicates that clinical hyperactivity is best viewed as the extreme end of activity levels in the population. However, current animal models of hyperactivity are not studied as quantitative traits as they are either knockout models or inbred strains. Furthermore, these animal models generally demonstrate elevated locomotion in novel environments, but not in their home-cages. This is the opposite of the symptoms seen in the human condition where childhood hyperactivity is generally more pronounced in constant, unstimulating situations. In this study we filmed an outbred population of 44 heterogeneous stock (HS) mice under red light during their active phase, to assess the reliability of individual differences in home-cage behavior and extract an index of home-cage activity (HCA) level. We then compared this measure to locomotor behavior in a novel environment--the open-field. Reliable individual differences in home-cage behaviors such as running, swinging on bars, and burrowing were found, and principal component factor analysis yielded a general activity factor, which accounted for 32% of the variance and correlated 0.90 with a subjective impression of activity level. The correlation between HCA and locomotor activity in the open-field was 0.23, which was non-significant. However, the association with HCA level appeared to increase over the five minutes of the open-field, presumably as the mice habituated. Furthermore, although mice displaying particularly high and low HCA were indistinguishable early in the open-field task, they became significantly differentiated over time. We conclude that home-cage behaviors and the open-field, after habituation, display good face and construct validity, and may provide a good model of baseline activity for quantitative trait loci (QTL) discovery and functional genomics in the HS mice.
Descriptors: arousal genetics, brain physiology, motor activity physiology, social environment, arousal physiology, crosses, genetic, exploratory behavior physiology, mice, models, genetic, quantitative trait loci, reference values.

Moragrega, I., M.C. Carrasco, P. Vicens, and R. Redolat (2003). Spatial learning in male mice with different levels of aggressiveness: effects of housing conditions and nicotine administration. Behavioural Brain Research 147(1-2): 1-8. ISSN: 0166-4328.
Abstract: The main aim of the present investigation was to evaluate the possible modulation of spatial learning ability by housing conditions and level of aggressiveness in mice, also testing whether differences in locomotion and anxiety could influence this relationship. Additionally, we have examined effects of nicotine in the acquisition and retention of a spatial learning task in groups of mice differing in these variables. NMRI male mice were either group-housed or individually housed for 30 days and then classified into mice with short (SAL) and long (LAL) attack latency after a pre-screening agonistic encounter. Locomotor activity and baseline levels of anxiety of these groups were evaluated in the actimeter and elevated plus-maze. Results indicated that SAL and LAL individually housed mice displayed higher locomotion activity than LAL group-housed mice. In the plus-maze test, SAL and LAL individually housed mice showed more total and open arm entries than group-housed LAL mice, confirming the hyperactivity of individually housed mice and suggesting that isolation had no clear anxiolytic or anxiogenic actions. In the water-maze, we compared the performance of individually housed SAL, individually housed LAL mice, and group-housed LAL mice treated with nicotine (0.35 and 0.175mg/kg) or vehicle. Nicotine did not improve acquisition in group-housed mice and even impaired it in individually housed mice. Retention of platform position was better in vehicle-treated individually housed mice in comparison with vehicle-treated group-housed mice. The present study demonstrates that housing conditions but not level of aggressiveness modify spontaneous locomotor activity and behaviors displayed on the elevated plus-maze test, and can also influence retention of a spatial learning task.
Descriptors: mice, spatial learning, housing conditions, aggressiveness, anxiety, nicotine, effect.

Morien, A., L. Garrard, and N.E. Rowland (1999). Expression of Fos immunoreactivity in rat brain during dehydration: effect of duration and timing of water deprivation. Brain Research 816(1): 1-7. ISSN: 0006-8993.
Descriptors: rat, brain, dehydration, water deprivation, Fos, immunoreactivity, duration, timing.

Moshkin, M.P., L.V. Akinchina, O.T. Kudaeva, I.E. Kolosova, and V.A. Kozlov (2004). The influence of female mouse smell on the immunity, endocrine status and aggressive behavior of laboratory male mice. Immunologiya 25(6): 350-354. ISSN: 0206-4952.
Abstract: The impact produced by the smell of ICR females (1-, 7- or 21-day expositions) on the immune functions of ICR males, which were kept in 4-species groups, was investigated. Chemosignals of females provoked a higher concentration of testosterone in blood plasma of males and activated temporarily the adrenocortical system - the concentration of corticosterone in blood plasma was increasing by day 7 of the smell exposition. The chemosignals suppressed the humoral response to sheep erythrocytes (SE) and reduced the proliferative response of B cells to LPS, but they did not affect the scope of the cell immune response (CIR) and even intensified the spontaneous synthesis of IgG by splenic cells. The immunosuppressive effect from the smell petered out in castration. The androgen-dependent suppression of the humoral-response mechanisms did not affect negatively the survival of males in group aggression. It was rather the other way: the immunophysiological changes caused by the reproductive chemosignals of females contributed to a better resistance of males to trauma, whose probability increases in competition for a potential sexual partner.
Descriptors: behavior, biochemistry and molecular biophysics, endocrine system, chemical coordination and homeostasis, immune system, castration, clinical techniques, aggressive behavior, cell immune response, sexual competition, smell.

Murakoshi, K. and T. Noguchi (2005). Simulation of rat behavior by a reinforcement learning algorithm in consideration of appearance probabilities of reinforcement signals. Biosystems 80(1): 83-90. ISSN: 0303-2647.
Descriptors: behavior, models and simulations, computational biology, reinforcement learning algorithm, mathematical and computer techniques, reinforcement learning, reinforcement signal.

Nagai, T., K. Yamada, and T. Nabeshima (2005). Behavioral approaches for analyzing emotionality in mutant mice. Folia Pharmacologica Japonica 125(2): 71-76. ISSN: 0015-5691.
Descriptors: behavior, biochemistry and molecular biophysics, nervous system, neural coordination, pharmacology, brain chemistry, emotionality, head dipping behavior, marble burying behavior, psychology, social interaction.

Nishioka, K., M. Okano, Y. Ichihara, N. Ichihara, and K. Nishizaki (2005). Immunosuppressive effect of restraint stress on the initiation of allergic rhinitis in mice. International Archives of Allergy and Immunology 136(2): 142-147. ISSN: 1018-2438.
Descriptors: mice, allergic rhinitis, initiation, restraint stress, immunosuppressive effect, acute stress, antibody production, inhibits.

Nunes, S., E.M. Muecke, J.A. Anthony, and A.S. Batterbee (1999). Endocrine and energetic mediation of play behavior in free-living Belding's ground squirrels. Hormones and Behavior 36(2): 153-65. ISSN: 0018-506X.
Abstract: Many juvenile mammals play, and rates and patterns of play behavior often differ between young males and females. The sexual dimorphisms typical of mammalian play suggest that it might be influenced by gonadal hormones. Moreover, because play competes with growth, physical development, and acquisition of fat reserves for available energy, play behavior should theoretically be influenced by energetic variables. We examined patterns of social play behavior and endocrine and energetic mediation of social play in free-living juvenile Belding's ground squirrels (Spermophilus beldingi). Bouts of social play in young S. beldingi resembled adult copulation and fighting, and young males initiated sexual play but not play fighting at much higher rates than did young females. To elucidate the proximal causes of play, we altered early androgen exposure by treating females with testosterone (T) at birth and used females treated with oil vehicle as controls. We concurrently manipulated energy availability by provisioning with extra food and used unprovisioned squirrels as controls. Hourly rates of play behavior were highest near the time of weaning and declined thereafter among both experimental and control groups of juveniles. Thus, we observed no influence of either T treatment or food provisioning on the temporal patterning of play behavior. Perinatal T treatment had no effect on play fighting, but caused rates of sexual play behavior initiated by young females to increase to near those observed for young males, suggesting that T organizes a masculine tendency to initiate sexual play behavior but not play fighting. Food provisioning increased rates of play among males and females from both T-treated and control litters, suggesting that energy availability limits play behavior.
Descriptors: energy metabolism physiology, hormones physiology, play and playthings psychology, Sciuridae physiology, social behavior, aggression drug effects, aggression physiology, aging physiology, behavior, animal physiology, body weight physiology, hormones blood, sex behavior, animal drug effects, sex behavior, animal physiology, testosterone blood, testosterone pharmacology, testosterone physiology.

Oarada, M., T. Nikawa, and N. Kurita (2002). Effect of timing of food deprivation on host resistance to fungal infection in mice. British Journal of Nutrition 88(2): 151-158. ISSN: 0007-1145.
NAL Call Number: 389.8 B773
Abstract: Mice were deprived of food for a period of 72 h at varying times relative to the time of infection with Paracoccidioides brasiliensis. Host resistance was diminished profoundly when the period of food deprivation was from 48 h before to 24 h after infection (group B). When food deprivation was initiated immediately after infection (group C), host resistance was reduced less profoundly. When food deprivation was initiated at 24 and 48 h post-infection, reductions in host resistance were only moderate or not observed respectively. These results suggest that the earlier in the course of infection starvation occurs, the more profoundly host resistance is impaired. When food deprivation was initiated 72 h before infection, finishing at the time of infection (group A), the reduction in host resistance was considerably less profound compared with group B mice, suggesting that refeeding initiated immediately after infection is responsible for rapid restoration of the antifungal resistance in starved mice. Infection-induced responses of corticosterone and interferon-gamma were changed according to the timing of food deprivation. Group A mice, similar to non-fasted controls, showed an infection-induced increase in serum corticosterone concentration, while groups B and C did not. Group C mice showed a substantially greater infection-induced increase in serum interferon-gamma compared with the other fasted and non-fasted control groups.
Descriptors: food deprivation, starvation, timing, disease resistance, paracoccidioidomycosis, Paracoccidioides brasiliensis, mice, animal models, diet, interferon, blood serum, corticosterone, corticotropin, spleen, liver, refeeding.

Ohta, R., A. Matsumoto, T. Nagao, and M. Mizutani (1998). Comparative study of behavioral development between high and low shuttlebox avoidance rats. Physiology and Behavior 63(4): 545-51. ISSN: 0031-9384.
Abstract: Previously, we reported that high- and low-avoidance animals (HAA and LAA, respectively), selectively bred for different avoidance response rates in a shuttlebox avoidance test, showed additional behavioral differences in wheel cage activity and in water maze performance after weaning. In the present study, physical and behavioral development were examined in HAA and LAA during the preweaning period. As compared to HAA, LAA offspring showed lower body weight, delayed eye opening, poorer performance in pivoting and negative geotaxis, and increased open-field activity. A fostering study indicated that these differences observed in eye opening, pivoting, negative geotaxis, open-field activity, swimming speed, shuttlebox avoidance and wheel cage activity were independent of maternal care. Only the pup weight was strongly dependent on the maternal line. These results indicate that behavioral differences between HAA and LAA observed in the pre- and postweaning periods may be linked to the avoidance genotype, but the difference in pup weight may be caused by maternal care.
Descriptors: avoidance learning physiology, behavior, animal physiology, body weight drug effects, body weight physiology, growth physiology, locomotion physiology, maze learning physiology, motor activity physiology, musculoskeletal equilibrium physiology, rats.

Olsson, I.A.S., C.M. Nevison, E.G. Patterson Kane, C.M. Sherwin, H.A. Van de Weerd, and H. Wurbel (2003). Understanding behaviour: the relevance of ethological approaches in laboratory animal science. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 81(3): 245-264. ISSN: 0168-1591.
NAL Call Number: QL750.A6
Descriptors: mice, rats, laboratory animals, animal behavior, strain differences, animal housing, cages, environmental enrichment, smell, vision, hearing, taste, touch, validity.

Osiel, S., D.A. Golombek, and M.R. Ralph (1998). Conservation of locomotor behavior in the golden hamster: effects of light cycle and a circadian period mutation. Physiology and Behavior 65(1): 123-131. ISSN: 0031-9384.
Descriptors: golden hamster, locomotion behavior, conservation, light cycle, effects, circadian period, light-dark cycle, constant dark, activity.

Palanza, P., L. Gioiosa, and S. Parmigiani (2001). Social stress in mice: gender differences and effects of estrous cycle and social dominance. Physiology and Behavior 73(3): 411-20. ISSN: 0031-9384.
Abstract: A large discrepancy in the possibility of inducing social stress in the two genders exists. Since generalizations of findings from one sex to the other appear not to be valid, reliable models of social stress in females are needed. We examined the effects of social context in the housing environment, as a possible source of stress, on exploration and anxiety in male and female mice, taking into account the estrous phase for females and the social status for males as additional variables. Mice housed individually or with siblings were tested in a free-exploratory paradigm of anxiety (where test animals have a choice to stay in their home cage or to explore an open field, OF). Individually housed females did not leave their home cage for long periods, explored less the unfamiliar area and displayed higher risk assessment, a behavioral profile suggestive of lower propensity for exploration and higher level of anxiety compared with group-housed females. Individually housed males tended to show an opposite profile. Proestrus mice were less sensitive to the decrease of exploratory propensity induced by individually housing compared to estrus and diestrus mice. Social dominants and social subordinates in sibling groups did not differ in their exploratory responses to the OF. Different housing procedures, as means to provide different social environment, may differentially induce mild social stress in male and female mice.
Descriptors: estrus physiology, estrus psychology, social dominance, social environment, stress, psychological physiopathology, behavior, animal physiology, exploratory behavior physiology, mice, sex characteristics.

Patterson Kane, E.G., M. Hunt, and D. Harper (2002). Rats demand social contact. Animal Welfare 11(3): 327-332. ISSN: 0962-7286.
NAL Call Number: HV4701.A557
Descriptors: rats, laboratory animals, cages, cage size, animal housing, motivation, animal welfare, environmental enrichment, group housing, animal preferences.

Patterson Kane, E.G., M. Hunt, and D.N. Harper (1999). Behavioral indexes of poor welfare in laboratory rats. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science 2(2): 97-110. ISSN: 1088-8705.
NAL Call Number: HV4701.J68
Descriptors: rats, cages, enrichment, group size, fearfulness, floor space, exploration, stress response, animal welfare.

Pedrazzini, T., J. Seydoux, P. Kuenstner, J.F. Aubert, V. Pasdrun, E. Grouzmann, F. Beermann, and H.R. Brunner (1998). Cardiovascular response, feeding behaviour, and locomotor activity in NPY Y1 receptor-deficient mice. Society for Neuroscience Abstracts 24(1-2): 2046. ISSN: 0190-5295.
Descriptors: feeding behavior, locomotor activity, cardiovascular response, deficient mice, NPY Y1 receptor.
Notes: Meeting Information: 28th Annual Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, Part 2, November 7-12, 1998, Los Angeles, California, USA.

Peterson, N.C. and J.E. Peavey (1998). Comparison of in vitro monoclonal antibody production methods with an in vivo ascites production technique. Contemporary Topics in Laboratory Animal Science 37(5): 61-66. ISSN: 1060-0558.
NAL Call Number: SF405.5.A23
Descriptors: mice, monoclonal antibodies, ascites, tissue culture, animal welfare, production costs, labor requirements, antibody formation, laboratory equipment.

Petervari, E., M. Balasko, Z. Szelenyi, Z. Hummel, and M. Szekely (2002). Fasting hypometabolism and thermoregulation in cold-adapted rats. Journal of Thermal Biology 27(5): 359-364. ISSN: 0306-4565.
NAL Call Number: QP82.2.T4J6
Abstract: (1) Cold-adapted rats, upon acute cold-exposure, exhibit overshoot increase in metabolic rate (MR) and paradoxical rise in core temperature (Tc). (2) Fasting causes suppression of resting (daytime) but not nocturnal MR and Tc. (3) In fasting rats, acute cold-exposure evokes relatively greater overshoot MR- and Tc-rises than in control rats, while central prostaglandin E induces relatively greater elevations in MR and Tc. (4) Re-feeding quickly reverses fasting-induced MR- and Tc-suppression, earlier than body weight is normalized. (5) The metabolic suppression originating from gastrointestinal signals can be overruled by opposite abdominal information (feeding) or by thermoregulatory information (cold signals).
Descriptors: fasting, thermoregulation, cold adapted, rats, metabolic rate, core temperature, feeding, cold, gastrointesinal.

Pohorecky, L.A. (1999). Testing the genetics of behavior in mice. Science 285(5436): 2067-8; Author Reply 2069-70. ISSN: 0036-8075.
Descriptors: behavior, animal, genetics, behavioral methods, housing, animal, animals, laboratory, confounding factors epidemiology, handling psychology, mice, rats.
Notes: Comment On: Science. 1999 Jun 4;284(5420):1670-2.

Powell, F. and P.B. Banks (2004). Do house mice modify their foraging behaviour in response to predator odours and habitat? Animal Behaviour 67(4): 753-759. ISSN: 0003-3472.
NAL Call Number: 410 B77
Abstract: Predator odours and habitat structure are thought to influence the behaviour of small mammalian prey, which use them as cues to reduce risks of predation. We tested this general hypothesis for house mice, Mus domesticus, by manipulating fox odour density via addition of fox scats and habitat via patchy mowing of vegetation, for populations in 1515-m field enclosures. Using giving-up densities (GUDs), the density of food remaining when an animal quits harvesting a patch, we measured foraging behaviours in response to these treatments. Mice consistently avoided open areas, leaving GUDs two to four times greater in these areas than in densely vegetated patches. However, mouse GUDs did not change in response to the addition of fox scats, even immediately after fresh scats were added. There was no interaction between fox odour and habitat use. We then tested whether habituation to fox odours had occurred, by comparing the individual responses to scats of eight mice born into enclosures with fox scats to those of eight mice born into scat-free enclosures and five wild mice. In smaller enclosures, GUDs of trays with scats did not differ from GUDs of trays without scats for any treatment. We conclude that exposure to high levels of fox odours did not alter the foraging behaviour of mice, but that mice did reduce foraging in areas where habitat was removed, perceiving predation risk to be greater in these areas than controls. We suggest further that studies using the scat-at-trap' technique, which have shown avoidance of predator odours by mice and other small mammals, may overestimate the general avoidance of predator odours by free-living prey, which must forage with a constant background of predator odours.
Descriptors: foraging behavior, odor, predator prey interactions, habitat selection, cover, risks, risk assessment, Mus musculus.

Powell, S.B., H.A. Newman, T.A. McDonald, P. Bugenhagen, and M.H. Lewis (2000). Development of spontaneous stereotyped behavior in deer mice: effects of early and late exposure to a more complex environment. Developmental Psychobiology 37(2): 100-8. ISSN: 0012-1630.
Descriptors: behavior, animal physiology, environment, Peromyscus psychology, stereotyped behavior physiology, age factors, newborn animal psychology, mice.

Price, H. (2002). Veterinary role in laboratory mouse welfare. Veterinary Times 32(33): 14. ISSN: 1352-9374.
Descriptors: mouse, welfare, laboratory animals, veterinary role.

Pullinger, V.J. and N. Dawson (2003). Animal welfare dentistry: modernising dental care in rodents 'a cut in the right direction'. Animal Technology and Welfare 2(3): 189-191. ISSN: 0264-4754.
NAL Call Number: SF757.A62
Descriptors: animal welfare, dental care, laboratory animals, techniques, teeth, rodents.

Rashotte, M.E., A.M. Ackert, and J.M. Overton (2002). Ingestive behavior and body temperature during the ovarian cycle in normotensive and hypertensive rats. American Journal of Physiology 282(1, Part 2): R216-R225. ISSN: 0002-9513.
NAL Call Number: 447.8 Am3
Abstract: The relationship between ingestive behaviour (eating+drinking) and core body temperature (Tb) in naturally cycling female rats was compared in a normotensive strain (Sprague-Dawley; SD) and a hypertensive strain reputed to have chronically elevated Tb (spontaneously hypertensive rats; SHR). Tb (by telemetry) and ingestive behaviour (automated recording) were quantified every 30 seconds. Ingestive behaviour and Tb were related on all days of the ovarian cycle in both strains but the strength of that relationship was reduced on the day of oestrus (E) compared with non-oestrous days. Several strain differences in Tb were found as well. In SHR, dark-phase Tb was elevated on E, whereas SD remained at the lower non-oestrous values. Fluctuations in dark-phase Tb were correlated with ingestive behaviour in both strains but had greater amplitude in SHR except on E. Short-term fasting or sucrose availability did not eliminate elevated dark-phase Tb on E in SHR. We propose that oestrus-related changes unique to SHR may indicate heightened thermal reactivity to hormonal changes, ingestive behaviour and general locomotor activity.
Descriptors: body temperature, feed intake, feeding behavior, hypertension, ingestion, estrus cycle, estrus, strain differences, strains, water intake, rats.

Roche, J.P. and W. Timerlake (1998). The influence of artificial paths and landmarks on the foraging behavior of Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus). Animal Learning and Behavior 26(1): 76-84. ISSN: 0090-4996.
NAL Call Number: QL785.A725
Abstract: In two experiments, we explored how the foraging behavior of Norway rats was influenced by different arrangements of artificial paths and vertical landmarks. The rats used the paths successively less for orienting to food in treatments in which paths led to food but were crooked, in which paths led only halfway to food, and in which paths were misaligned with respect to food. The arrangement of paths influenced the rats' rate of energy intake in the beginning of the experiment, whereas the arrangement of beacons did not. With experience, the rats employed different orientation strategies in the presence of different arrangements of paths or beacons, and, by the final 4 days, all groups achieved statistically indistinguishable net rates of return. The rates of energy intake were similar because the rats in different treatments traveled similar distances per session, despite differing arrangements of paths and landmarks.
Descriptors: rats, foraging, behavior, movement, orientation, nutrient intake, feeding habits, mammals, physiological functions, Rodentia, foraging efficiency, behavior patterns, energy intake.

Rogalska, J., M. Caputa, K. Wentowska, and A. Nowakowska (2004). Stress-induced behaviour in juvenile rats: effects of neonatal asphyxia, body temperature and chelation of iron. Behavioural Brain Research 154(2): 321-329. ISSN: 0166-4328.
Abstract: Newborn mammals, showing reduced normal body temperature, might be protected against iron-mediated, delayed neurotoxicity of perinatal asphyxia. Therefore, we investigated the effects of (1) neonatal body temperature and neonatal critical anoxia as well as (2) postanoxic chelation of iron with deferoxamine, on open-field stress-induced behaviour in juvenile rats. The third aim of this study was to compare (after the above-mentioned treatments) circadian changes in spontaneous motor activity and body temperature in juvenile rats permanently protected from any stress. Neonatal anoxia at body temperature adjusted (both during anoxia and 2 h reoxygenation) to a level typical of healthy (37 degrees C) or febrile (39 degrees C) adults led to the stress-induced hyperactivity in juvenile (5-45 days old) rats. Both normal neonatal body temperature of 33 degrees C and chelation of iron prevented the hyperactivity in rats. Neither neonatal body temperature nor neonatal anoxia affected spontaneous motor activity or body temperature of juvenile rats, recorded in their home-cages with implantable transmitters. Circadian rhythmicity was also undisturbed. Presented data support the hypothesis that physiologically reduced neonatal body temperature can provide a protection against iron-mediated postanoxic disturbances of behavioural stress responses in juvenile rats.
Descriptors: animal models, anoxia, body temperature, circadian rhythm, iron, laboratory animals, newborn animals, respiration, stress, rats.

Roughan, J.V. and P.A. Flecknell (2000). Effects of surgery and analgesic administration on spontaneous behaviour in singly housed rats. Research in Veterinary Science 69(3): 283-288. ISSN: 0034-5288.
NAL Call Number: 41.8 R312
Descriptors: pain, surgery, analgesics, ketoprofen, rats, laparotomy, behavior change, anesthesia, animal behavior, drug effects, buprenorphine.

Sakamoto, K., K. Kadota, and K. Oishi (2004). Light-induced phase-shifting of the peripheral circadian oscillator in the hearts of food-deprived mice. Experimental Animals (Tokyo) 53(5): 471-474. ISSN: 1341-1357.
Descriptors: mice, food deprived, light induced phase shifting, circadian oscillator, heart, mammalian, constant darkness, fasting.

Salas, S.P., A. Giacaman, and C.P. Vio (2004). Renal and hormonal effects of water deprivation in late-term pregnant rats. Hypertension (Baltimore) 44(3): 334-339. ISSN: 0194-911X.
Descriptors: pregnant rats, late term, water deprivation, renal effects, hormonal efects, plasma volume, food intake, body weight.

Salazar Juarez, A., R.R. Aguilar, L. Parra, and C. Escobar (2003). Restricted feeding schedules modulate free-running drinking activity in malnourished rats. Biological Rhythm Research 34(5): 459-473. ISSN: 0929-1016.
Descriptors: rats, resricted feeding, malnourished, drinking activity, light-dark conditions, behavioral patterns, proteins, free running.

Salmon, P.L., E.G.G. Buelens, and A. Sasov (2003). Performance and limits of in vivo micro-CT imaging of trabecular bone in rats and mice, with consideration of animal welfare and tissue-weighted dosimetry. Calcified Tissue International 72(4): 410. ISSN: 0171-967X.
Descriptors: rats, mice, skeletal system, movement, imaging, trabecular bone, micro computed tomography, animal welfare.
Notes: Meeting Information: 30th European Symposium on Calcified Tissues, May 8-12, 2003, Rome, Italy.

Sato, J., H. Morimae, K. Takanari, Y. Seino, T. Okada, M. Suzuki, and K. Mizumura (2000). Effects of lowering ambient temperature on pain-related behaviors in a rat model of neuropathic pain. Experimental Brain Research 133(4): 442-449. ISSN: 0014-4819.
Descriptors: rat model, neuropathic pain, pain related behaviors, ambient temperature, lowering, effects, aggravated pain related behaviors.

Scalera, G. (2001). Taste preference and acceptance in thirsty and dehydrated rats. Physiology and Behavior 71(5): 457-468. ISSN: 0031-9384.
Descriptors: rats, dehydrated, thirsty, preferences, fluid, intake, palatability, body fluid balance.

Schlingmann, F., H.A. Van de Weerd, V. Baumans, R. Remie, and L.F.M. Van Zutphen (1998). A balance device for the analysis of behavioural patterns of the mouse. Animal Welfare 7(2): 177-188. ISSN: 0962-7286.
NAL Call Number: HV4701.A557
Descriptors: mice, animal behavior, behavior patterns, balances, recording instruments, physical activity, circadian rhythm.

Schradin, C. and N. Pillay (2003). Paternal care in the social and diurnal striped mouse (Rhabdomys pumilio): laboratory and field evidence. Journal of Comparative Psychology 117(3): 317-24. ISSN: 0735-7036.
Descriptors: microtinae psychology, paternal behavior, social environment, laboratory animal psychology, newborn animals, wild animal psychology, circadian rhythm, maternal behavior, nesting behavior, pair bond.

Schwarting, R.K.W. and C.R. Pawlak (2003). Individual differences of pre-weaning ultrasound vocalization and effects of transient post-weaning housing in isolation on plus-maze and open field behavior in adult Wistar rats. Society for NeuroScience Abstract Viewer and Itinerary Planner: Abstract No. 837.5.
Online: http://sfn.scholarone.com
Descriptors: rats, weaning housing, isolation, open field, behavior, individual differences, ultrasound vocalization.
Notes: Meeting Information: 33rd Annual Meeting of the Society of Neuroscience, November 08-12, 2003, New Orleans, LA, USA.

Seelke, A.M. and M.S. Blumberg (2005). Thermal and nutritional modulation of sleep in infant rats. Behavioral Neuroscience 119(2): 603-11. ISSN: 0735-7044.
NAL Call Number: QP351.B45
Descriptors: body temperature regulation, sleep physiology, newborn animals, food deprivation, nutritional status, rats, research support, National Institutes of Health, N.I.H., extramural, temperature.

Sefcikova, Z. and S. Mozes (2002). Effect of early nutritional experience on the feeding behaviour of adult female rats. Veterinarni Medicina Uzpi 47(10-11): 315-322. ISSN: 0375-8427.
Abstract: Female Wistar rats were subjected to food restriction (free access to food for 2 hours daily) as follows: a) during the suckling period, i. e. up to day 15 (SR), b) during the weaning period from day 15 to 30 (WR), c) throughout 30 days post partum (SWR) and d) during adulthood, i.e. from day 60-75 of life (AR). This restriction was then changed to an ad libitum regime. The significantly decreased body weight found in females coming from litters of restrictedly fed mothers showed that these animals were considerably undernourished. Appetitive motivation increased in females that had been exposed to a restricted feeding regime during their infant period but remained unaffected in females restrictedly fed during their adult age. In comparison with the ad libitum fed controls and AR groups, significantly increased mean food intake was observed in all postnatally underfed groups (P<0.001). The greatest inclination to hyperphagia and qualitative changes in feeding behaviour were observed in SWR females whose feeding regime was restricted for the longest time. These animals showed hyperphagia even in the new environment regardless whether the whole group or only one female was tested. Our results reveal a) a determinant influence of the feeding regime of the animals at early age (41 %) while environmental and social factors represent only about 17 and 4 %, respectively and that b) changes in feeding habits in adult female rats may significantly depend on the length of postnatal undernutrition.
Descriptors: rats, females, mothers, progeny, animal feeding, unrestricted feeding, restricted feeding, underfeeding, feed intake, body weight, suckling, weaning, social behavior, perinatal period, age, environmental factors, ancestry, behavior, developmental stages, feeding, feeding habits, feeding systems, mammals, parents, Rodentia, sex.

Seki, M., K. Yamaguchi, H. Marumo, and K. Imai (1997). Effects of food restriction on reproductive and toxicological parameters in rats. In search of suitable feeding regimen in long-term tests. Journal of Toxicological Sciences 22(5): 427-437.
Descriptors: food restriction reproductive, toxicological, rats, effects, feeding regimen, long term tests.

Severinsen, T. and I.C. Munch (1999). Body core temperature during food restriction in rats. Acta Physiologica Scandinavica 165(3): 299-305. ISSN: 0001-6772.
Abstract: Deep body temperature and locomotor activity of rats fed a reduced food amount (n=9) and of starved rats (n=9), were measured by implanted transmitters. Both groups were then refed ad libitum. The reduction in body temperature was significant for both groups, but larger in the starved rats. There was a displacement of the circadian temperature rhythm in the starved rats. No significant differences in locomotor activity between groups was observed until the start of refeeding. Rats fed reduced food amounts rapidly increased their activity, while the starved group retained a low activity for several days. Thermal conductance was reduced by 30% in both groups. It is concluded that the reduction in thermal conductance may explain how starving and semi-starving rats are able to maintain core temperatures close to normal, even if resting metabolic rates are drastically reduced. The measured reduction in body core temperature signifies a change in the thermoregulatory 'set-point' during starvation.
Descriptors: body temperature, food restriction, starvation, heat production, resting energy exchange, energy metabolism, physical activity, metabolism, rats.

Sharp, J., T. Azar, and D. Lawson (2005). Selective adaptation of male rats to repeated social encounters and experimental manipulations. Contemporary Topics in Laboratory Animal Science 44(2): 28-31. ISSN: 1060-0558.
NAL Call Number: SF405.5.A23
Abstract: The objective of the present study was to determine how rats adapt to repeated encounters with an unfamiliar male or group of males and to experimental manipulations. Male rats were instrumented with radiotelemetry transmitters to monitor heart rate (HR), mean arterial blood pressure (MAP), and movements in the home cage as indices of arousal and stress. Groups of eight singly housed rats were exposed in their home cages to encounters with an unfamiliar rat or a group of three rats of the same strain, age, and sex for a period of 18 h (1600 to 1000 h) on four consecutive days. On separate occasions, the instrumented rats were given a subcutaneous injection of sterile saline in the animal room or were transported from the animal room to the laboratory and then injected at 1000 h on four consecutive days. Exposure to an unfamiliar rat or a group of 3 rats induced significant (P < 0.05) increases in HR, MAP, and movement in the first 30 min of exposure, and these responses partially but significantly (P < 0.05) adapted by the second or third day. Nocturnal movement in the home cage also was significantly (P < 0.05) increased on the first night and partially reduced on subsequent nights, but nocturnal HR responses were absent or significantly blunted. Nocturnal MAP was not increased. Subcutaneous injection in the animal room or after transport to the laboratory produced significant (P < 0.05) increases in HR, MAP, and movement in the cage 30 min after the injection, and these responses did not adapt over the four days of the experiment. We concluded that male Sprague-Dawley rats adapted quickly, albeit partially, to social encounters but did not adapt to repeated injections, suggesting selective adaptation depending on the type of stimulus used.
Descriptors: social encounters, male rats, adaptation, experimental manipulations, radiotelemetry, Sprague Dawley rats.

Sharp, J., T. Zammit, T. Azar, and D. Lawson (2003). Are "by-stander" female Sprague-Dawley rats affected by experimental procedures. Contemporary Topics in Laboratory Animal Science 42(1): 19-27. ISSN: 1060-0558.
NAL Call Number: SF405.5.A23
Descriptors: rats, female animals, laboratory animals, animal stress, animal welfare, gender differences, group housing, animal behavior, euthanasia, animal use refinement, heart rate, animal handling, animal physiology, individual housing.

Sharp, J., T. Zammit, T. Azar, and D. Lawson (2003). Stress-like responses to common procedures in individually and group-housed female rats. Contemporary Topics in Laboratory Animal Science 42(1): 9-18. ISSN: 1060-0558.
NAL Call Number: SF405.5.A23
Descriptors: rats, laboratory animals, animal stress, animal welfare, animal handling, group housing, gender differences, cages, heart rate, blood pressure, female animals, circadian rhythm, animal use refinement, restraint of animals, subcutaneous injection, odors, intravenous injection, animal behavior, animal physiology, individual housing.

Sharp, J., T. Zammit, T. Azar, and D. Lawson (2002). Does witnessing experimental procedures produce stress in male rats? Contemporary Topics in Laboratory Animal Science 41(5): 8-12. ISSN: 1060-0558.
NAL Call Number: SF405.5.A23
Abstract: The objective of this study was to test the hypotheses that male rats are stressed by being in the same room as animals subjected to common husbandry and experimental procedures and that the level of stress is affected by housing density. Two commonly used indices of stress, heart rate (HR) and mean arterial blood pressure (MAP), were determined by using radiotelemetry for 2 h before and 3 h after rats witnessed the following procedures: decapitation, decapitation and necropsy, cage change, restraint and subcutaneous injection, and restraint and tail-vein injection. In addition, home cage behaviors (sleeping, awake, moving, rearing, and grooming) were scored once each minute for 15 min before and 45 min after the procedures. Witnessing decapitation or decapitation and necropsy of 6 other rats induced small, but significant, increases in HR and MAP in animals housed alone, whereas responses in animals housed with one or three cagemates were more transient or not significant. Witnessing a routine cage change also induced small increases in HR and MAP in rats housed alone or with one cagemate, but HR and MAP decreased in rats housed four per cage. HR and MAP did not change in rats witnessing restraint and a subcutaneous injection of other rats, but these indices were transiently increased when rats witnessed animals being restrained in a rodent restrainer and given a tail-vein injection. Home cage behaviors were significantly altered only in rats witnessing decapitation and necropsy and then only in rats housed alone. We conclude that male Sprague-Dawley rats are not significantly stressed when present in the same room in which decapitation or other common experimental procedures are being performed, especially when the animals are housed with cagemates.
Descriptors: animal husbandry methods, blood pressure physiology, heart rate physiology, stress physiopathology, vision, autopsy, euthanasia, animal housing, injections, photic stimulation, rats, Sprague Dawley rats, physical restraint, specific pathogen free organisms, time factors.

Sharp, J.L., T.G. Zammit, T.A. Azar, and D.M. Lawson (2002). Stress-like responses to common procedures in male rats housed alone or with other rats. Contemporary Topics in Laboratory Animal Science 41(4): 8-14. ISSN: 1060-0558.
NAL Call Number: SF405.5.A23
Descriptors: rats, laboratory mammals, male animals, stress, stress factors, heart rate, blood pressure, group size, stocking density, cages, physical activity, restraint of animals, injection, odors, animal welfare, animal husbandry, telemetry, data collection, group housing, cage changing.

Sherwin, C.M. (1996). Preferences of laboratory mice for characteristics of soiling sites. Animal Welfare 5(3): 283-288. ISSN: 0962-7286.
NAL Call Number: HV4701.A557
Descriptors: laboratory animals, animal welfare, mice, cages, defecation, animal housing, excretion, mammals, physiological functions, Rodentia, useful animals.

Sherwin, C.M. (2004). The motivation of group-housed laboratory mice, Mus musculus, for additional space. Animal Behaviour 67(4): 711-717. ISSN: 0003-3472.
NAL Call Number: 410 B77
Abstract: The limited amount of space that we provide for research animals can adversely influence the validity of behavioural data and animal welfare. Consumer demand studies have examined the strength of motivation that animals have for additional space; however, one problem of these studies is that the animals tested were generally of a gregarious species, but were tested in isolation. I trained a single mouse from each of six groups to perform an operant task to gain access to an additional 319, 777, or 1600cm super(2) while group-housed. As the cost of visits increased, the mice continued to gain access to the additional space, although the numbers of visits and the time in the additional space decreased. The slopes of the demand functions for the three amounts of additional space ranged between 0.64 and 0.44, indicating that the mice perceived additional space to be an important resource. The slopes of the demand functions, the areas under the demand functions and the Y-axis intercepts were not significantly different between the three sizes of additional space, thus corroborating previous similar work. These results indicate that group-housed laboratory mice in standard laboratory cages were highly motivated for additional space, but did not discriminate between the amounts offered.
Descriptors: mice, motivation, additional space, behavior, isolation, welfare, animal care, cage, space, group housing, single housing.

Shimizu, Y. and K. Tonosaki (1999). Low environmental temperature modulates gustatory nerve activity and behavioral responses to NaCl in rats. American Journal of Physiology 277(2): R368-R373. ISSN: 0002-9513.
NAL Call Number: 447.8 Am3
Abstract: The effects of cold ambient temperature on chorda tympani nerve responses to taste stimuli such as sucrose, NaCl, quinine HCl (QHCl) and HCl were studied in 76 male Wistar rats (6-7 weeks old, 180-230 g). The electrophysiological recordings of the whole chorda tympani nerves from control (22 degrees C) and cold-exposed (4 degrees C) rats revealed that the responses to sucrose, HCl and QHCl were unaffected by cold exposure. In contrast, the nerve responses to NaCl were enhanced time dependently, reaching a maximum 7-14 days after cold exposure. Responses to sodium acetate were likewise increased as they were to NaCl, whereas those to KCl were unchanged after cold exposure. In addition, the residual NaCl responses after lingual application of the sodium-channel blocker amiloride in cold-exposed rats were similar to those in control rats. It is thus most likely that cold exposure potentiates the chorda tympani nerve responses to Na+, but not to Cl-. Behavioural studies with the 2-bottle preference test showed that the cold-exposed rats refused to drink NaCl solutions at 0.05 and 0.1 M, the concentrations being preferred by control rats. It is concluded that the ambient temperature influences taste cell function, and that the enhanced NaCl response of the chorda tympani nerve is related to the avoidance of NaCl intake under cold environment.
Descriptors: environmental temperature, sucrose, taste, sodium chloride, cold stress, feeding behavior, rats.

Shiraishi, T., K. Sasaki, A. Niijima, and Y. Oomura (1998). Effects of leptin and orexins on the feeding behavior in rats. NeuroScience Research Supplement 22: S262.
Descriptors: rats, feeding behavior, leptin, orexins, effects.
Notes: Meeting Information: 21st Annual Meeting of the Japan Neuroscience Society and the First Joint Meeting of the Japan Neuroscience Society and the Japanese Society for Neurochemistry, September 21-23, 1998, Tokyo, Japan.

Sida, P., M. Koupilova, S. Hynie, and V. Klenerova (2003). Effects of two types of restraint stress on the learned behaviour in rats. Acta Medica Hradec Kralove Universitas Carolina, Facultas Medica Hradec Kralove 46(4): 153-6. ISSN: 1211-4286.
Abstract: To study the effects of stress on cognitive functions, Wistar and Lewis rats were exposed to restraint (immobilization stressor) (IMO) or restraint combined with partial immersion into water (IMO+C). Learned discriminatory avoidance response in Y-maze, with foot-shock as an unconditioned stimulus, was used as a memory test. The latency to enter the correct arm and number of wrong entries were daily recorded during the training period (20 days) until the criterion was reached, which was set at 90% avoidances (choosing the correct arm). After exposure of rats to one of the stressors for 60 min, the rats were returned to the home cage; the latency to enter the safe arm was recorded in 6 daily trials that started 1 h after application of stressor. Both stressors significantly prolonged the avoidance latencies for 2 or 3 days in Wistar and Lewis rats, respectively; then the latencies returned to the values obtained before the stress exposure. In Lewis rats, the latencies more increased after IMO+C than after IMO stressor, and the maximal increase in latencies was higher in Lewis rats than in Wistar rats. The latency did not reach the time limit for foot-shock delivery, and the number of correct choices remained unchanged in both strains. The results indicate that the used restraint stressors did not affect the long-term memory; rather a transient impairment of retrieval can be considered. Further, differences in response of Lewis and Wistar rats may be interpreted by different activity of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activity in used strains.
Descriptors: avoidance learning, immobilization, stress, maze learning, rats, inbred Lewis rats, Wistar rats.

Silva, K.M. and W. Timberlake (1998). The organization and temporal properties of appetitive behavior in rats. Animal Learning and Behavior 26(2): 182-195. ISSN: 0090-4996.
NAL Call Number: QL785.A725
Abstract: In the presence and absence of an external interfood clock stimulus (a sequence of flashing lights), rats showed a multimodal behavior pattern during successive quarters of interfood intervals (IFI) ranging from 12 to 192 sec. Responses near the feeder peaked before and just after food presentations, whereas locomotion remote from the feeder peaked toward the middle of the IFI. The temporal patterns of nosing in the feeder and remote locomotion were scalar (the time at which a response peaked in the IFI was proportional to the IFI length), whereas the patterns of postfood feeder-directed behavior, rearing, and pawgrooming were time bound (peaking at a fixed time after food, regardless of IFI length). Responses varied in their control by the external clock stimulus. During the last half of the IFI, rats nosed in the feeder more with an external clock, but only at intermediate IFIs. During the first quarter of the IFI, rats pawgroomed more with an external clock, but only at the longest IFI. The general sequence of responses during the interfood clock was consistent with the view that food delivery engages an organized sequence of search states that are expressed through a variety of responses.
Descriptors: rats, feeding habits, animal training, stimuli, biological rhythms, timing, appetite, physical activity, behavior, mammals, nutrition physiology, physiological functions, Rodentia, visual stimuli.

Silva, R.C., N.R. Santos, and M.L. Brandao (2003). Influence of housing conditions on the effects of serotonergic drugs on feeding behavior in non-deprived rats. Neuropsychobiology 47(2): 98-101. ISSN: 0302-282X.
Descriptors: rats, non deprived, housing conditions, serotonergic drugs, effects, feeding behavior, serotonin.

Sluyter, F. and G.A. Van Oortmerssen (2000). A mouse is not just a mouse. Animal Welfare 9(2): 193-205. ISSN: 0962-7286.
NAL Call Number: HV4701.A557
Descriptors: mice, inbred lines, line differences, aggressive behavior, adaptability, genetic variation, nesting, biotopes, testing, wild animals, natural selection, genetic effects, age differences, experimental design, animal welfare, animal preferences.

Smith, J.W., J.R. Seckl, A.T. Evans, B. Costall, and J.W. Smythe (2004). Gestational stress induces post-partum depression-like behaviour and alters maternal care in rats. Psychoneuroendocrinology 29(2): 227-44. ISSN: 0306-4530.
Abstract: Gestational stress (GS) produces profound behavioural impairments in the offspring and may permanently programme hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis function. We investigated whether or not GS produced changes in the maternal behaviour of rat dams, and measured depression-like behaviour in the dam, which might contribute to effects in the progeny. We used the Porsolt test, which measures immobility in a forced-swim task, and models depression in rodents, while monitoring maternal care (arched-back nursing, licking/grooming, nesting/grouping pups). Pregnant rats underwent daily restraint stress (1 h/day, days 10-20 of gestation), or were left undisturbed (control). On post-parturition days 3 and 4, dams were placed into a swim tank, and time spent immobile was measured. GS significantly elevated immobility scores by approximately 25% above control values on the second test day. Maternal behaviours, in particular arched-back nursing and nesting/grouping pups, were reduced in GS dams over post-natal days 1-10. Adult offspring showed increased immobility in the Porsolt test, and also hypersecreted ACTH and CORT in response to an acute stress challenge. These data show that GS can alter maternal behaviour in mothers, and this might contribute to alterations in the offspring. GS may be an important factor in maternal post-natal depression, which may in turn detrimentally effect the offspring because depressed mothers do not sufficiently care for their offspring.
Descriptors: corticosterone blood, corticotropin blood, depression, postpartum physiopathology, maternal behavior physiology, prenatal exposure delayed effects, stress, psychological physiopathology, analysis of variance, depression, postpartum etiology, animal disease models, hypothalamo hypophyseal system physiopathology, maternal behavior psychology, pituitary adrenal system physiopathology, random allocation, rats,physical restraint, stress, psychological complications.

Smith, K.R. and R.A. Markle (1998). Capsaicin use in neonatal rats: husbandry and welfare concerns. Lab Animal 27(10): 38-40. ISSN: 0093-7355.
NAL Call Number: QL55.A1L33
Descriptors: rats, capsaicin, newborn animals, urination, dyspnea, animal welfare, skin lesions, complications.

Smorkatcheva, A.V. (2003). Parental care in the captive mandarin vole, Lasiopodomys mandarinus. Canadian Journal of Zoology 81(8): 1339-1345. ISSN: 0008-4301.
Descriptors: mandarin vole, parental care, nest cohabitation, male, female, grooming, nest building, activity, division of labor.

Soffie, M., K. Hahn, E. Terao, and F. Eclancher (1999). Behavioural and glial changes in old rats following environmental enrichment. Behavioural Brain Research 101(1): 37-49. ISSN: 0166-4328.
Abstract: The effects of enriched environment on short-term memory for event durations and on astrocytes (cell density, cell area and % of GFAP immunoreactivity) in hippocampus (Hi), frontal cortex (FC) and corpus callosum (CC) were analysed in old rats housed from weaning to the end of behavioural testing (23 months) either in standard (SC) or in enriched (EC) conditions and in young adults (5 months) all housed in SC. Old SC and EC and young SC rats trained (for 2 months) or not, in a Symbolic Delayed Matching to Sample Task, had to discriminate and remember two (2- and 10-s) signals after short retention intervals. Results confirm the aging-related acquisition and memory deficit. EC reduced the slowness of acquisition, reversed the short-term memory deficit and promoted the retention of the short signal (choose short effect). Old SC naive rats had many hypertrophied astrocytes with long processes in Hi and CC while old EC rats had decreased astrocytes number and size. The behavioural testing resulted in young adult SC rats in Hi and CC, in increased astrocytes number, size and GFAP% and in their decrease in old SC rats. EC and testing have additive effects (very low astrocytes number, size and GFAP%) to compensate for the aging-induced gliosis, mostly in Hi.
Descriptors: aging psychology, behavior, animal physiology, brain physiology, environment, neuroglia physiology, astrocytes physiology, brain cytology, cell count, conditioning, operant physiology, corpus callosum cytology, corpus callosum physiology, discrimination psychology physiology, frontal lobe cytology, frontal lobe physiology, glial fibrillary acidic protein immunology, glial fibrillary acidic protein metabolism, hippocampus cytology, hippocampus physiology, immunohistochemistry, memory, short term physiology, neuronal plasticity physiology, Wistar rats.

Solomon, N.G. and T. Rumbaugh (1997). Odor preferences of weanling and mature male and female pine voles. Journal of Chemical Ecology 23(9): 2133-2143. ISSN: 0098-0331.
NAL Call Number: QD415.A1J6
Abstract: Olfactory cues from conspecifics have strong influences on behavior. Both female and male juveniles are attracted to familiar odors while adults show preferences for odors of opposite-sex conspecifics. Females show an increased preference for male odors as they mature, but no study has examined whether change with age is seen in males. In this experiment, responses of weanling and mature male and female pine voles (Microtus pinetorum) to familiar odor cues from their family versus those of an unfamiliar, opposite-sex conspecific were examined. Voles were tested in a three-chambered cage with end chambers containing the stimuli. There was a significant difference in odor preference between weanling and mature females. Weanling females preferred odor cues from their families, and mature females preferred the odors of unfamiliar mature males. The pattern was similar in males but the effect was not as strong. The results support the hypothesis that responses to odor cues change with age in pine voles. At least for females, the change in response to odor cues may be involved in the timing of reproduction and thus dispersal.
Descriptors: voles, odors, olfactory stimulation, sex differences, age differences, sexual maturity.

Spani, D., M. Arras, B. Konig, and T. Rulicke (2003). Higher heart rate of laboratory mice housed individually vs in pairs. Laboratory Animals 37(1): 54-62. ISSN: 0023-6772.
NAL Call Number: QL55.A1L3
Abstract: Many studies have shown that housing mice individually over a long period significantly alters their physiology, but in most cases measurement has required human interference and restraint for sampling. Using a radio-telemetry system with implantable transmitters, we recorded heart rate (HR), motor activity (ACT) and body temperature (BT) of freely moving male mice (NMRI) housed either individually or in pairs with an ovarectomized female. Data for each parameter were collected at 5 min intervals for two consecutive 24 h periods. Even after several weeks of habituation to the social conditions, HR was increased in mice housed individually compared with mice housed in pairs, although their measured ACT did not differ. Additionally, BT tended to be reduced in individually-housed mice. When the data were analysed according to different ACT levels, HR was increased in individually-housed mice during phases of low and high, but not intermediate, motor activity. Furthermore, individually-housed mice had more, but shorter, resting bouts, indicating disruption of the normal circadian sleep pattern. Enhanced HR in individually-housed mice does not necessarily indicate stress, but might be an important physiological indicator of discomfort. The fact that individual housing alters basic physiological parameters in laboratory mice highlights the need to control for housing-dependent variation, especially in experiments that are sensitive to changes in these parameters.
Descriptors: mice, housing, pairs, individually, heart rate, telemetry, stress, physiological indicator.

Spreekmeester, E.S., J. Menard, S. Sharma, J. Diorio, J. Rochford, M.J. Meaney, and E. Grauer (2001). Chronic variable stress in female rats: modulation by early life maternal care. Society for Neuroscience Abstracts 27(1): 897. ISSN: 0190-5295.
Descriptors: rate, female, chronic variable stress, maternal care, modulation, early life, anxiety, grooming, behavior, variations, startle response.
Notes: Meeting Information: 31st Annual Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, November 10-15, 2001, San Diego, California, USA.

Starkey, N.J. and C.A. Hendrie (1998). Disruption of pairs produces pair-bond disruption in male but not female Mongolian gerbils. Physiology and Behavior 65(3): 497-503. ISSN: 0031-9384.
Abstract: Previous studies have shown that separating gerbils from established male/female pairs has consequences for subsequent social behaviour. In males, this is characterized by decreased initiation of social contact, social investigation, and either decreased aggressive behaviour or increased defense. In females, there is an increase in immobile-in-contact, which serves to terminate social encounters initiated by another animal. Although these data show the effects of disrupting established pairs, they do not, per se, demonstrate the existence of male/female pair-bonds. Three studies were performed to address this issue in more detail. In the first study, separating females from single-sex groups was found to produce similar effects to those seen following separation from male/female pairs. Generally, opposite effects were seen in males. In the second study, the effects of separating females from male/female pairs were not seen when the original cagemate was replaced with a different animal. These effects persisted in males. The third study revealed that the presence of a female until immediately prior to testing was crucial in producing high levels of social investigation and aggression in males and that the observation of decreases in these behaviours following separation from male/female pairs was dependent on this. Together, these data show that, in males, individual housing is not a critical variable, that effects seen following the breaking of male/female pairs are not attenuated by the presence of a new female, and that these effects are not seen following separation from male/male pairs. It is concluded, therefore, that the behavioural consequences of removing males from established male/female pairs are due to separation from a specific female and that this is highly indicative of the existence of a bonding mechanism in male but not female, gerbils.
Descriptors: behavior, animal physiology, pair bond, aggression, Gerbillinae, sex factors, social behavior.

Stefanski, V., G. Knopf, and S. Schulz (2001). Long-term colony housing in Long Evans rats: immunological, hormonal, and behavioral consequences. Journal of Neuroimmunology 114(1-2): 122-30. ISSN: 0165-5728.
Abstract: The distribution pattern and the function of blood immune cells were investigated for 10 weeks in three mixed-sex colonies of Long Evans rats. After colony formation, a despotic dominance system was established between the males. This paper focuses on differences between subdominant colony and pair-housed control males. A reduced body mass development and hormonal status in subdominant males indicate stressful colony conditions. Subdominant males had lower numbers of CD4 and CD8 T cells, pronounced granulocytosis and reduced lymphocyte proliferation rates as compared with controls. The persistency of changes in subdominant males offers the opportunity to investigate the effects of long-term immuno-modulation on health.
Descriptors: Long Evans rats, colony housing, long term, behavior, immunological, pair housed, males.

Stern, J.M. (1996). Somatosensation and maternal care in Norway rats. In: Advances in the Study of Behavior; Parental Care: Evolution, Mechanisms, and Adaptive Significance. Vol. 25, Academic Press Inc.: San Diego, CA, USA; London, England, UK, p. 243-294.
Descriptors: Norway rats, maternal care, behavior, development, reproduction, female, licking behavior, nursing behavior, parental care, somatosensation.

Stricker, K.A., C. Burlet, and B. Beck (1998). Behavioral deficits in monosodium glutamate rats: specific changes in the structure of feeding behavior. Life Sciences 62(23): 2127-2132. ISSN: 0024-3205.
Descriptors: feeding behavior, deficits, rats, monosodium glutamate, specific changes, structure.

Suchomelova, E., P. Munclinger, and D. Frynta (1998). New evidence of pseudosexual behaviour and female aggression in mice: neutral cage interactions in Mus spicilegus and Mus spretus (Rodentia: Muridae). Folia Zoologica 47(4): 241-247. ISSN: 0139-7893.
Descriptors: Mus spicilegus, Mus spretus, behavioral sex differences, interspecific variation, behavioral variation, agonistic behavior, social behavior, neutral cage interactions, interspecific and sex differences, female aggression and pseudosexual behavior, comparative study.

Sudo, M., T. Moriya, M. Akiyama, and S. Shibata (2000). Behavioral free-running and rhythmic expression of the clock genes under constant lighting conditions in mice. NeuroScience Research 24(Supplement): S168. ISSN: 0921-8696.
Descriptors: mice, constant lighting conditions, clock genes, behavior, free running, rhythmic expression.
Notes: Meeting Information: 23rd Annual Meeting of the Japan Neuroscience Society and the 10th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Neural Network Society, 2000, Yokohama, Japan.

Surjo, D. and S.S. Arndt (2001). The Mutant Mouse Behaviour network, a medium to present and discuss methods for the behavioural phenotyping. Physiology and Behavior 73(5): 691-4. ISSN: 0031-9384.
Abstract: The nonprofit international Mutant Mouse Behaviour network "MMB" was founded within the framework of the conference "Behavioural Phenotyping of Mouse Mutants", February 2000, held in Cologne, Germany. It intends to be a forum for presenting and discussing all topics dealing with the behavioural phenotyping of mice. The major aim of the MMB is to support the interdisciplinary finding of a consensus on the methods and techniques used for behavioural phenotyping of mouse mutants. That means that scientist involved in the development of mouse models have to consent to the fact that a consideration of all the parameters that might affect the behaviour is necessary. Finding and establishing a consensus is a fluent process based on a continuous exchange of information. The network will provide a standardised database that includes detailed descriptions of test methods and of the relevant background parameters that might influence the behaviour of mice. Information will range from detailed descriptions of test methods, specifications of the equipment used, housing conditions, and specifications of the animals used according to the international nomenclature. The detailed descriptions will help in making behavioural tests and their results comprehensible and reproducible. A mailing list has been established to provide a platform for the continuous exchange of information between the network members. It will be a forum for discussing all topics related to behavioural phenotyping (see above). Scientists from all research areas involved are free to provide detailed information about their experimental work, and will, in return, get a quick response to their questions. Furthermore, the mailing list will be a useful medium to determine which information should be incorporated.
Descriptors: behavior, animal physiology, databases, mice, neurologic mutants genetics, phenotype, consensus development conferences, genetics, behavioral, international cooperation, mice.

Symes, P.A., S. Mcbennett, and J.F. Andrews (1997). Feeding and behavioral thermoregulation in obese mice. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society 56(1A): 76A. ISSN: 0029-6651.
Descriptors: mice, thermoregulation, feeding, behavioral, obese.
Notes: Meeting Information: Meeting of the Nutrition Society, June 24-28, 1996, Ulster, Coleraine.

Szczypka, M.S., M.A. Rainey, D.S. Kim, W.A. Alaynick, B.T. Marck, A.M. Matsumoto, and R.D. Palmiter (1999). Feeding behavior in dopamine-deficient mice. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 96(21): 12138-12143. ISSN: 0027-8424.
Descriptors: mice, dopamine deficient, feeding, behavior.

Tang, X., S.M. Orchard, and L.D. Sanford (2002). Home cage activity and behavioral performance in inbred and hybrid mice. Behavioural Brain Research 136(2): 555-69. ISSN: 0166-4328.
Descriptors: behavior, animal physiology, motor activity physiology, anxiety genetics, anxiety psychology, defecation, exploratory behavior physiology, light, mice, inbred BALB c mice, inbred C57BL mice, inbred DBA mice, inbred mice strains, species specificity.

Tang, X. and L.D. Sanford (2005). Home cage activity and activity-based measures of anxiety in 129P3/J, 129X1/SvJ and C57BL/6J mice. Physiology and Behavior 84(1): 105-115. ISSN: 0031-9384.
Abstract: We investigated the home cage activity and emotional behavior in mouse strains used as background for many studies of altered genes [C57BL/6J (B6, n=20), 129X1/SvJ (X1, n=20) and 129P3/J (P3, n=19)]. In their home cages, X1 and P3 mice exhibited less locomotion than did B6 mice, and the X1 mice showed significantly greater rearing than B6 and P3 mice did. A battery of three tests conducted in an open field (open field, emergence and novel object) revealed strain rankings of B6>X1>P3 or B6>X1=P3 in most activity variables. Significant correlations were found between home cage activity and activity in each of three tests, but not in all observation periods. Strain rankings on the elevated zero maze test were B6=X1>P3 in the number of stretched-attend body postures (SAPS) during the initial 6-min exposure for naive mice. Naive and nonnaive mice showed significantly different behaviors on the elevated zero maze. The results suggest that rankings on anxiety are P3>X1>B6 and that B6 mice have greater exploration in a novel environment compared with X1 and P3 mice. However, anxiety-like behaviors differed among strains in open-field-based tests and in the zero maze, and testing experience impacted performance on the zero maze. The findings illustrate that test variations and experience can influence performance and suggest the need for the consideration of how these factors interact with background strains in assessing gene-altered mice.
Descriptors: mice, home cage activity, anxiety, locomotion, behavior, X1 mice, P3 mice, B6 mice.

Terranova, M.L., G. Laviola, L. De Acetis, and E. Alleva (1998). A description of the ontogeny of mouse agonistic behavior. Journal of Comparative Psychology 112(1): 3-12. ISSN: 0735-7036.
Abstract: The development of agonistic behavior was characterized in outbred Swiss CD-1 male Mus domesticus. At weaning (postnatal day [PND] 21), mice were housed either individually or as male pairs. Social encounters were carried out between dyads of initially unfamiliar same-age and same-housing subjects every 3rd day, from PND 23 to 47. The majority of both offensive and defensive elements had their onset around PND 29. Overall, their expression increased around puberty (i.e., on PND 35), which also represented the peak of an inverted U-shaped profile for the frequency of the "ambivalent" tail rattling behavior. A stability of dominance-submission relationships over development appeared, and early short latencies to display either the first crouched posture (subordinate) or the first attack (dominant) turned out to be possible predictors of adult social status. Ongoing individual housing was associated with a greater expression and an earlier onset of fighting behavior.
Descriptors: aging psychology, agonistic behavior, mice, dominance subordination, habituation psychophysiology, hierarchy, social, reaction time, sexual maturation, social environment, social isolation.

Thon, R., J. Lassen, A.K. Hansen, I.M. Jegstrp, and M. Ritskes Hoitinga (2002). Welfare evaluation of genetically modified mice: an inventory study of reports to the Danish Animal Experiments Inspectorate. Scandinavian Journal of Laboratory Animal Science 29(1): 45-53. ISSN: 0901-3393.
Descriptors: laboratory animals, mice, animal welfare, transgenic animals, pain, genetically modified organisms, mammals, Rodentia, transgenics, useful animals.
Language of Text: Danish summary.

Timm, R.M. and C. Vriesendorp (2003). Observations on feeding behavior in the Vesper mouse, Nyctomys sumichrasti. Mammalian Biology 68(2): 126-128. ISSN: 1616-5047.
Descriptors: Vesper mouse, feeding behavior, observations, social activity.

Toropila, M., M. Ondrasovic, J. Danko, M. Falis, and E. Svicky (2000). Circadian oscillations of activities of rat liver adaptive enzymes during a short-term feed deprivation. Folia Veterinaria 44(1): 21-24. ISSN: 0015-5748.
Abstract: After a 3-week period of adaptation to a standard artificial light regimen: light : darkness - 12 h : 12 h (07.00-19.00 h light, 19.00-07.00 h darkness), the experimental animals, male rats of Wistar strain SPF breeding, were deprived of feed starting at 08.00 h. During the subsequent 48 h (animals were deprived of feed for 0 - 48 h), activities of selected adaptive enzymes, tyrosine aminotransferase (TAT), tryptophan-2-3-dioxygenase (TO), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) were determined in the liver cytosol fraction at 3-h intervals.Although the rhythm of circadian oscillations of selected enzyme activities was preserved in the animals fasting for different periods, some characteristics of the activities changed in comparison with well-fed animals, particularly during the dark period of the day.
Descriptors: rats, liver, enzyme activators, body parts, digestive system, mammals, Rodentia.

Touma, C., R. Palme, and N. Sachser (2004). Non-invasive monitoring of stress hormones in mice: a technique opening new perspectives in biomedical and animal welfare research. Animal Welfare 13, Supplement: S256-S257. ISSN: 0962-7286.
NAL Call Number: HV4701.A557
Descriptors: mice, animal welfare, stress hormones, monitoring, non invasive technique, new perspective, biomedical research.
Notes: Meeting Information: Universities Federation for Animal Welfare (UFAW) Symposium on Science in the Service of Animal Welfare, Animal Welfare, Edinburgh, UK, April 02-04, 2003.

Trentini III, J.F., B. Thompson, and J.S. Erlichman (2005). The antinociceptive effect of acupressure in rats. American Journal of Chinese Medicine 33(1): 143-150. ISSN: 0192-415X.
Abstract: Acupuncture and acupressure points correlate well with sites on the body that have low transcutaneous electrical resistance (TER). Using lightly sedated, adult Sprague-Dawley rats, we identified an acupoint (i.e. site with low TER) located on the hind limb of the rat and compared the effects of acupressure at this site on the nociceptive threshold to an adjacent, non-acupoint site (i.e. site with high TER). Focal pressure (55.42 +/- 2.2 g) was applied to the site for 10 minutes and the tail flick response (TFR) was determined by draping the distal portion of the tail over a heated wire (75 +/- 5 degrees C). Three trials were performed during each of three randomized conditions (i.e. acupoint, placebo and control) and the trials were averaged. All rats tested (515) showed a statistically significant increase in TFR following 10 minutes of acupressure at the acupoint compared to placebo or control trials (p = 0.007). Acupressure at the placebo point resulted in a TFR that was not statistically different from the control. Systemic administration of naloxone completely abolished the tail-flick inhibition induced by acupressure at the acupoint. These data suggest that acupressure elicits an antinociceptive effect in rats that is mediated by the endogenous release of opioids.
Descriptors: behavior, nervous system, neural coordination, acupressure, therapeutic and prophylactic techniques, clinical techniques, tail flick response, laboratory techniques, acupuncture, antinociceptive effect, transcutaneous electrical resistance.

Turner, P.V., M.A. Albassam, and R.M. Walker (2001). The effects of overnight fasting, feeding, or sucrose supplementation prior to necropsy in rats. Contemporary Topics in Laboratory Animal Science 40(4): 36-40. ISSN: 1060-0558.
NAL Call Number: SF405.5.A23
Descriptors: rats, laboratory mammals, blood chemistry, starvation, postmortem examinations, sucrose, body weight, liver, histology, glycogen, weight, feed intake, leukocyte count, neutrophils, blood sugar, alkaline phosphatase, alanine aminotransferase, enzyme activity, digestive tract, stomach, sex differences, animal welfare, animal use refinement.

Umezawa, M., K. Kogishi, H. Tojo, S. Yoshimura, N. Seriu, A. Ohta, T. Takeda, and M. Hosokawa (1999). High-linoleate and high-alpha-linolenate diets affect learning ability and natural behavior in SAMR1 mice. Journal of Nutrition 129(2): 431-437. ISSN: 0022-3166.
NAL Call Number: 389.8 J82
Abstract: Semipurified diets incorporating either perilla oil [high in alpha-linolenate, 18:3(n-3)] or safflower oil [high in linoleate, 18:2(n-6)] were fed to senescence-resistant SAMR1 mouse dams and their pups. Male offspring at 15 mo were examined using behavioral tests. In the open field test, locomotor activity during a 5-min period was significantly higher in the safflower oil group than in the perilla oil group. Observations of the circadian rhythm (48 h) of spontaneous motor activity indicated that the safflower oil group was more active than the perilla oil group during the first and second dark periods. The total number of responses to positive and negative stimuli was higher in the safflower oil group than in the perilla oil group in the light and dark discrimination learning test, but the correct response ratio was lower in the safflower oil group. The difference in the (n-6)/(n-3) ratios of the diets reflected the proportions of (n-6) polyunsaturated fatly acids, rather than those of (n-3) polyunsaturated fatty acids in the brain total fatty acids, and in the proportions of (n-6) and (n-3) polyunsaturated fatty acids in the total polyunsaturated fatty acids of the brain phospholipids. These results suggest that in SAMR1 mice, the dietary alpha-linolenate/linoleate balance affects the (n-6)/(n-3) ratio of brain phospholipids, and this may modify emotional reactivity and learning ability.
Descriptors: linoleic acid, linolenic acid diet, nutrient intake, mental ability, behavior, experimental diets, dams mothers, pups, safflower oil, perilla, plant oils, mice, circadian rhythm, polyenoic fatty acids, ratios, brain, phosphatidylethanolamines, phosphatidylcholines, animal models, field activity, motor activity, light and dark discrimination, omega 3 fatty acids, omega 6 fatty acids.

Valsecchi, P., I. Bosellini, F. Sabatini, M. Mainardi, and G. Fiorito (2002). Behavioral analysis of social effects on the problem-solving ability in the house mouse. Ethology 108(12): 1115-1134. ISSN: 0179-1613.
Abstract: The effects of the social context on the problem-solving ability in the house mouse was evaluated by means of a puzzle box containing food, which could be opened by rotating a revolving door. The aim of the study was to clarify which mechanisms of social learning promote the acquisition of this complex motor skill. Young mice were exposed to the puzzle box in the presence of (i) demonstrators opening of the puzzle box; (ii) adults unable to open the puzzle box; and (iii) adults confined in one part of the cage and not manipulating the puzzle box. Results of the detailed analysis of the sequence of behaviors showed that (i) young mice successful in opening the puzzle box did not copy the sequence of actions performed by demonstrators; and (ii) the presence of adult conspecifics in proximity of the problem apparatus increased the rate of success of young mice. Results suggest that trial-and-error learning, social exposure and stimulus enhancement all play a role in the acquisition of the opening ability.
Descriptors: social environment, cognitive ability, environmental effects, enrichment, observational learning, mice.

Van der Harst, J.E., P.C.J. Fermont, A.E. Bilstra, and B.M. Spruijt (2003). Access to enriched housing is rewarding to rats as reflected by their anticipatory behaviour. Animal Behaviour 66(3): 493-504. ISSN: 0003-3472.
NAL Call Number: 410 B77
Descriptors: enrichment, housing, environmental effects, reinforcement, classical conditioning, appetitive behavior, arousal, anticipation, rats.

Van der Meer, M., P. Costa, V. Baumans, B. Olivier, and B. Van Zutphen (1999). Welfare assessment of transgenic animals: behavioural responses and morphological development of newborn mice. ATLA, Alternatives to Laboratory Animals 27(Supplement 1): 857-868. ISSN: 0261-1929.
NAL Call Number: Z7994.L3A5
Abstract: Four groups of mice of the same inbred strain, but with different transgenic backgrounds (no treatment; integration of a functional corticotrophin-releasing factor [CRF] gene construct; integration of a non-functional CRF gene construct; transgenic technique without integration of a DNA construct) were compared, in order to identify and quantify indicators of discomfort in transgenic animals. This approach enables us to differentiate between the effects of the technique of transgenesis and the effects caused by the expression of the transgene. This paper emphasises the search for differences in the early post-natal development of the animals. To this end, newborn mice have been subjected to various behavioural tests; moreover, their growth and morphological characteristics were measured from birth up to the age of 3 weeks. The results indicate that the presence of the microinjected DNA-construct influences the survival rate during the first 2-3 days after birth. The average loss of pups was about 10%, in contrast to the groups without the DNA construct, in which none of the pups died. The increase in the relative body weight of pups with a functional CRF construct was significantly lower than in the other groups, but only during the first 11 days. No significant differences in morphological characteristics or behavioural development were observed between the four groups. This approach was found to be adequate for detecting a broad variety of behavioural and morphological characteristics. Before general conclusions about the extent to which the technique of transgenesis affects animal welfare can be drawn, more transgenic lines should be studied in this way.
Descriptors: mice, transgenic animals, animal welfare, inbred strains, gene expression, postnatal development, perinatal mortality, liveweight gain, body weight, animal behavior, locomotion, strength.

Van der Meer, M., A. Rolls, V. Baumans, B. Olivier, and L.F.M. Van Zutphen (2001). Use of score sheets for welfare assessment of transgenic mice. Laboratory Animals 35(4): 379-389. ISSN: 0023-6772.
NAL Call Number: QL55.A1L3
Abstract: The use of transgenic mice has increased dramatically in recent years and continues to increase further. However, because transgenesis may alter a balanced genotype and produce unpredictable effects, careful monitoring of health and welfare of the transgenic animal is advised. The present study assessed the feasibility of the use of score sheets for monitoring transgenic mice, as part of daily routine, in a transgenic unit. The score sheets used were based on parameters which are sensitive and easy to determine. The score sheets were used by two animal technicians and a thorough evaluation showed that the score sheets, as described in this paper, are useful for routine monitoring in a transgenic unit and may result in the early detection of animal welfare problems. However, notwithstanding the limited number of parameters included and the restricted age-span covered by the screening, the monitoring system was considered to be time consuming. Large-scale implementation of such a scoring system during the first weeks of life would increase daily care time by at least 15-20 min for an average litter of 4-6 pups. Nevertheless, the use of score sheets seems to be a prerequisite for monitoring the animal's welfare in the course of producing transgenic lines.
Descriptors: mice, transgenic animals, laboratory mammals, animal welfare, monitoring, mortality, morbidity, postnatal development, young animals, weaning, postweaning interval, animal husbandry, animal care, welfare assessment, score sheets, animal welfare problems, daily routine.

Van der Staay, F.J. and T. Steckler (2001). Behavioural phenotyping of mouse mutants. Behavioural Brain Research 125(1-2): 3-12. ISSN: 0166-4328.
Abstract: Behavioural phenotyping of mouse mutants is not a goal in itself but serves to characterise the behavioural effects of naturally occurring or experimentally induced mutations. Genetically engineered mouse mutants are valuable tools to elucidate the genetic control of behaviour and the interaction between genetic and environmental factors. However, a prerequisite for their use is the ability to assess different elements of behaviour. To this end, a battery of tests, which should be flexible enough to meet the needs of a particular study, should be used to characterise the behavioural phenotype. Detailed and extensive information about the effects of gene mutations is crucial for model building and model evaluation. Model building is an iterative process, switching between experimental data and theory formation. In order to facilitate this process and to allow comparison of results within and between laboratories, the standardisation of breeding, housing, and testing conditions is essential. The development and standardisation of sensitive, valid behavioural tests which are suited to phenotype mouse mutants is both a responsibility and a challenge to investigators of mouse behaviour.
Descriptors: behavioral genetics, mice, mutant strains genetics, phenotype, genetic engineering, mice, transgenic mice, models, genetic, social environment.

Van Loo, P.L., H.A. Van de Weerd, L.F. Van Zutphen, and V. Baumans (2004). Preference for social contact versus environmental enrichment in male laboratory mice. Laboratory Animals 38(2): 178-88. ISSN: 0023-6772.
NAL Call Number: QL55.A1L3
Abstract: Due to their aggressive nature, male mice are less frequently used than female mice in biomedical research. When aggressive males are being used, individual housing is common practice. The question arises whether this is an acceptable housing for a social species. The present study was designed to gain more insight into the nature of inter-male social contact and into the potential of a form of environmental enrichment (nesting material) to compensate for the lack of social contact. In a series of tests, we analysed whether male mice of different ages preferred to spend time (1) near a familiar cage mate versus an empty cage, or (2) near to a familiar cage mate versus direct contact with nesting material (tissues). Dwelling time in each of the test cages and sleeping sites was recorded, as was the behaviour of the test mice. Results indicated that when other conditions were similar, male mice preferred to sleep in close proximity to their familiar cage mate. Furthermore, the need to engage in active social behaviour increased with age. Tissues were used to a large extent for sleeping and sleep-related behaviour. It is concluded that single housing in order to avoid aggression between male mice is a solution with evident negative consequences for the animals. When individual housing is inevitable due to excessive aggressive behaviour, the presence of nesting material could partly compensate for the deprivation of social contact.
Descriptors: agonistic behavior, animal welfare, animal behavior, inbred BALB c mice psychology, social dominance, animal housing, mice, inbred BALB c mice physiology, random allocation.

Van Loo, P.L., L.F. Van Zutphen, and V. Baumans (2003). Male management: Coping with aggression problems in male laboratory mice. Laboratory Animals 37(4): 300-13. ISSN: 0023-6772.
NAL Call Number: QL55.A1L3
Abstract: In a laboratory environment, aggressive interactions between male mice may exceed normal levels leading to negative effects both on the well-being of the animals and on the validity of experimental results. In this paper we review results from the literature and our own research with regard to coping with excessive aggressive behaviour in male laboratory mice. Based on this review practical recommendations concerning the housing and care of male laboratory mice are formulated. In short, it is recommended to avoid individual housing, to transfer odour cues from the nesting area during cage cleaning and to apply nesting material as environmental enrichment. Furthermore, group size should be optimized to three animals per cage. Further research, in particular into the effects of frequency, duration, type and severity of disturbances during an experiment on the degree of aggression, is recommended.
Descriptors: aggression, laboratory animals, sex characteristics, animal husbandry, animal behavior, environment, animal housing, mice, species specificity, male mice, aggression problems, coping, management, negative effects, review, recommendations, care, cage cleaning.

Van Loo, P.L.P., A.C. De Groot, B.F.M. Van Zutphen, and V. Baumans (2001). Do male mice prefer or avoid each other's company? influence of hierarchy, kinship, and familiarity. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science 4(2): 91-103. ISSN: 1088-8705.
NAL Call Number: HV4701.J68
Descriptors: mice, male animals, laboratory mammals, social dominance, animal welfare, cages, group size, aggressive behavior, feed intake, water intake, nests, animal preferences.

Varlinskaya, E.I., L.P. Spear, and N.E. Spear (1999). Social behavior and social motivation in adolescent rats: role of housing conditions and partner's activity. Physiology and Behavior 67(4): 475-82. ISSN: 0031-9384.
Abstract: The present study investigated 1) the effects of individual and grouped housing on social investigation, social contact behavior, and play behavior in adolescent rats tested with low socially active (grouped) and high socially active (isolated) play partners; and 2) the effects of long-term (8 days) and short-term (24 h) isolation on social behavioral manifestations and social motivation in terms of preference or avoidance of play partners. Social isolation of adolescent rats activated play behavior and social behaviors different from play, but play was predominantly affected under the conditions of this study. Long-term isolation was more effective than short-term, and resulted in greater manifestation of play and social preference. Adolescent rats were able to modify their social behaviors in response to social activity of the play partner: in isolated animals exposed to low socially active group-housed partners, play behavior was transformed into social activities unrelated to play; exposure of group-housed adolescents to high socially active previously isolated partners resulted in an increase of play behavior. Testing that allowed avoidance of social contacts revealed a dissociation between manifestations of play behavior and social motivation: group-housed play partners of isolated animals showed elevated levels of play behavior but a tendency to avoid their isolated pairmates.
Descriptors: rats, housing, social behavior, social environment, aging, activity, social isolation, play.

Varty, G.B., M.P. Paulus, D.L. Braff, and M.A. Geyer (2000). Environmental enrichment and isolation rearing in the rat: effects on locomotor behavior and startle response plasticity. Biological Psychiatry 47(10): 864-73. ISSN: 0006-3223.
Abstract: BACKGROUND: Laboratory rats exhibit behavioral changes that reflect a continuum of early life experience, from isolation-reared to socially reared to enrichment-reared conditions. In this study, we further characterize the behavioral effects of isolation, social, and enriched rearing on locomotor activity, patterns of movement and exploration, startle reactivity, prepulse inhibition (PPI), and habituation in adult rats. METHODS: Male Sprague-Dawley rat pups (21 days old) were housed under enrichment (three per cage with toys and exposure to enriched environments), normal social (three per cage), or isolation (one per cage) conditions. Eight weeks later, locomotor and exploratory behaviors, acoustic startle reactivity, PPI, and habituation were measured in the three groups. RESULTS: Enrichment-reared rats exhibited reduced exploration and rapid habituation of locomotor activity, increased startle reactivity, and normal PPI and startle habituation compared with socially reared controls. Isolation-reared rats exhibited increased exploration and normal habituation of locomotor activity, increased startle reactivity, reduced PPI, and normal startle habituation. CONCLUSIONS: Isolation- and enrichment-reared rats exhibited opposite changes in some behaviors and similar changes in other behaviors. Specifically, rats raised in enriched conditions appear more efficient at assimilating stimuli from their environment than do rats reared in isolation. Nevertheless, both enrichment- and isolation-rearing conditions increased startle reactivity, whereas only isolation rearing led to disruptions of PPI in adulthood. These results suggest that isolation- and enrichment-rearing conditions produce some common and some differential effects on how rats process environmental stimuli. For studies of isolation-rearing effects on PPI, however, the complex and resource-intensive enrichment condition seems to offer few advantages over the normal social condition.
Descriptors: locomotion physiology, social environment, social isolation, startle reaction physiology, auditory perception physiology, behavior, animal physiology, exploratory behavior physiology, habituation psychophysiology physiology, rats, Sprague Dawley rats psychology, social behavior, spatial behavior physiology.

Veening, J.G., J.A. Bouwknecht, H.J.J. Joosten, P.J. Dederen, T.J.J. Zethof, L. Groenink, J. Van der Gugten, and B. Olivier (2004). Stress-induced hyperthermia in the mouse: c-FOS expression, corticosterone and temperature changes. Progress in Neuro Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry 28(4): 699-707. ISSN: 0278-5846.
Descriptors: mouse, hyperthermia, stress induced, corticosterone changes, temperature changes, thermoregulatory response.

Vila, R., C. Adan, M.M. Grasa, R. Massanes, M. Esteve, C. Cabot, J. Estruch, J.A. Fernandez Lopez, X. Remesar, and M. Alemany (1998). Food deprivation does not affect the levels of fatty-acyl-estrone in rat plasma. International Journal of Obesity 22(Supplement 3): S186. ISSN: 0307-0565.
Descriptors: food deprivation, fatty-acyl-estrone, levels, rat, plasma, affect.
Notes: Meeting Information: Eighth International Congress on Obesity, August 29-September 3, 1998, Paris, France.

Von Frijtag, J.C., M. Schot, R. Van den Bos, and B.M. Spruijt (2002). Individual housing during the play period results in changed responses to and consequences of a psychosocial stress situation in rats. Developmental Psychobiology 41(1): 58-69. ISSN: 0012-1630.
Descriptors: aggression psychology, animal behavior physiology, animal housing, animal, play and playthings psychology, social behavior, social isolation psychology, stress psychology, analysis of variance, body weight physiology, rats, Wistar rats.

Walton, J.M. and K.E. Wynne Edwards (1997). Paternal care reduces maternal hyperthermia in Djungarian hamsters (Phodopus campbelli). Physiology and Behavior 63(1): 41-7. ISSN: 0031-9384.
Abstract: Throughout lactation, maternal body temperature, nest attendance, activity level and reproductive success of solitary female Djungarian hamsters housed at the recommended ambient temperature of 23 degrees C (Canadian Council on Animal Care guidelines) were compared with those of paired females housed at the same temperature and with solitary females housed at the natural burrow temperature of 18 degrees C. As expected, cooler ambient temperature improved pup survival and weaning weight. Likewise, paternal presence largely compensated for the poor pup growth typical at 23 degrees C. However, the mechanisms were not the same. Females at reduced ambient temperatures were as hyperthermic as females at the higher temperature and spent the same proportion of their day at very high body temperatures. However, the steeper temperature gradient available for passive cooling allowed those females to enhance maternal care by shortening their nest bout absences. In contrast, body temperatures of paired females were tightly regulated compared to the hyperthermia of solitary females and rarely included the highest body temperatures. This alleviation of maternal hyperthermia was not achieved through a reduction in nest attendance. Therefore, maternal hyperthermia in Djungarian hamsters is not essential and may be considered a substantial cost to females when males are not present.
Descriptors: fever physiopathology, maternal behavior, paternal behavior, fever psychology, growth physiology, hamsters, nesting behavior, Phodopus, survival, telemetry, temperature, time factors.

Wan, R., S. Camandola, and M.P. Mattson (2003). Intermittent food deprivation improves cardiovascular and neuroendocrine responses to stress in rats. Journal of Nutrition 133(6): 1921-1929. ISSN: 0022-3166.
NAL Call Number: 389.8 J82
Descriptors: rate, stress, responses, food deprivation, intermittent, cardiovascular, neuroendocrine, metabolism, disease.

Warburton, H.J. and C.J. Nicol (2001). The relationship between behavioural priorities and animal welfare: a test using the laboratory mouse Mus musculus. Acta Agriculturae Scandinavica Section A, Animal Science 51(Supplement 30): 124-130. ISSN: 0906-4702.
Descriptors: mouse, behavioral priorities, animal welfare, relationship, test.

Weinandy, R. and R. Gattermann (1999). Parental care and time sharing in the Mongolian gerbil. Zeitschrift Fuer Saeugetierkunde 64(3): 169-175. ISSN: 0044-3468.
Descriptors: Mongolian gerbil, parental care, time sharing, birth, weaning, nestbuilding, behavior, biparental care.

Westenbroek, C., J.A. Den Boer, M. Gerrits, and G.J. Ter Horst (2003). Chronic stress coping in isolated and socially housed male and female rats. Hormones and Behavior 44(1): 83. ISSN: 0018-506X.
Descriptors: rats, male, female, housing, isolated, socially, chronic stress, coping, behavior.
Notes: Meeting Information: Society for Behavioral Neuroendocrinology Annual Meeting, June 25-28, 2003, Cincinnati, OH, USA.

Westenbroek, C., J.A. Den Boer, M. Veenhuis, and G.J. Ter Horst (2004). Chronic stress and social housing differentially affect neurogenesis in male and female rats. Brain Research Bulletin 64(4): 303-308. ISSN: 0361-9230.
Abstract: Stress plays an important role in the development of affective disorders. Women show a higher prevalence for these disorders than men. The course of a depression is thought to be positively influenced by social support. We have used a chronic stress model in which rats received foot-shocks daily for 3 weeks. Since rats are social animals we hypothesised that 'social support' might reduce the adverse effects of chronic stress. To test this hypothesis, male and female rats were housed individually or socially in unisex groups of four rats. The proliferation marker bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) was injected 2 weeks before the sacrifice to investigate if stress and social housing influenced the survival of proliferating cells in the dentate gyrus (DG). To investigate changes in proliferation, another group of rats was sacrificed the day after the last BrdU injection. Stress significantly decreased BrdU labelling in individually housed males and not significantly in socially housed males. In individually housed females stress increased BrdU labelling, which was prevented by social housing. The increase found in females is most likely caused by differences in survival rate, since cell proliferation was not affected by stress or housing conditions. These results indicate that social support can affect neurogenesis in both female and male rats, however in a different way.
Descriptors: chronic stress, social housing, neurogenesis, effect, rats, male, female.

Wolfer, D.P., O. Litvin, S. Morf, R.M. Nitsch, H.P. Lipp, and H. Wurbel (2004). Laboratory animal welfare: cage enrichment and mouse behaviour. Nature 432(7019): 821-2. ISSN: 1476-4687.
Abstract: Mice housed in standard cages show impaired brain development, abnormal repetitive behaviours (stereotypies) and an anxious behavioural profile, all of which can be lessened by making the cage environment more stimulating. But concerns have been raised that enriched housing might disrupt standardization and so affect the precision and reproducibility of behavioural-test results (for example, see ref. 4). Here we show that environmental enrichment increases neither individual variability in behavioural tests nor the risk of obtaining conflicting data in replicate studies. Our findings indicate that the housing conditions of laboratory mice can be markedly improved without affecting the standardization of results.
Descriptors: animal welfare standards, laboratory animal physiology, laboratory animal psychology, animal behavior, animal physiology, animal housing, analysis of variance, laboratory animal genetics, brain physiology, brain physiopathology, hybridization, genetic, maze learning, mice, inbred C57BL mice, inbred DBA mice, phenotype, reproducibility of results.

Wommack, J.C. and Y. Delville (2003). Repeated social stress and the development of agonistic behavior: individual differences in coping responses in male golden hamsters. Physiology and Behavior 80(2-3): 303-8. ISSN: 0031-9384.
Abstract: In male golden hamsters, repeated social subjugation during puberty accelerates the development of adult aggressive behavior and enhances its intensity in the presence of smaller individuals. The current study is focused on the characterization of the hormonal and behavioral responses to social subjugation during puberty. Subjugation consisted of daily exposure to an aggressive adult for 20-min periods from postnatal day 28 (P-28) to P-42, while controls were placed into an empty clean cage. Plasma cortisol levels were measured prior to or immediately after treatment on P-28 and P-42. On P-28, exposure to an aggressive adult or a clean and empty cage caused an increase in plasma cortisol levels. However, only social subjugation resulted in elevated cortisol levels on P-42, showing that juvenile hamsters habituate to an unfamiliar environment but not to social subjugation. In addition, we found a relationship between the frequency of submissive responses during social subjugation and the development of aggressive behavior. The transition from play fighting to adult aggression was most accelerated in the least submissive animals. These data show that behavioral response to social subjugation determines the development of aggressive behavior in golden hamsters. Our data also suggest that submissive behavior is a form of coping that attenuates the behavioral consequences of social subjugation in male golden hamsters.
Descriptors: adaptation, psychological physiology, aggression physiology, agonistic behavior physiology, individuality, stress, psychological physiopathology, aging, newborn animals, animal behavior, dominance subordination, hamsters, hydrocortisone blood, Mesocricetus, social behavior, social isolation psychology.

Wommack, J.C., A. Salinas, R.H.J. Melloni, and Y. Delville (2004). Behavioural and neuroendocrine adaptations to repeated stress during puberty in male golden hamsters. Journal of Neuroendocrinology 16(9): 767-75. ISSN: 0953-8194.
Abstract: In adult animals, the consequences of stress are often severe and long lasting. Repeated subjugation in adult male golden hamsters inhibits aggression and increases submissive and avoidant behaviours. By contrast, subjugation during puberty enhances offensive aggression. The goals of this study were to characterize behavioural and neuroendocrine responses of naive and repeatedly subjugated juveniles to social defeat and to assess potential recovery from social stress. From the onset of puberty on postnatal day 28 (P28) to mid puberty (P42), animals were either socially subjugated or placed in a clean and empty cage for 20 min daily. The subjugated and control groups were further divided into subgroups and sacrificed under basal conditions or after social defeat on P28, P35 (early puberty), P45 (mid puberty) and P70 (early adulthood). On P35 and P45, repeatedly subjugated juveniles showed a complete inhibition of olfactory investigation (i.e. risk assessment) towards aggressive adults. Repeatedly subjugated also animals had lower postdefeat cortisol levels than controls on P45. Interestingly, basal cortisol levels increased gradually during puberty but did not differ between treatment groups at any point. Repeated subjugation was also associated with increased tyrosine hydroxylase immunoreactivity (ir-TH) within the extended medial amygdala. After a 4-week recovery period, none of these variables differed between subjugated and control groups. In an additional experiment, subjugated adults also had increased ir-TH in the medial extended amygdala, suggesting that these neurones are particularly responsive to social stress. In conclusion, puberty may be a developmental period characterized by behavioural and neuroendocrine plasticity in stress responsiveness. Furthermore, peri-pubertal changes in stress hormones may explain why juvenile hamsters are more resilient to social stress than adults.
Descriptors: amygdala enzymology, dominance subordination, hydrocortisone blood, sexual maturation physiology, stress physiopathology, tyrosine 3 monooxygenase metabolism, adaptation, physiological physiology, psychological physiology, chronic disease, animal disease models, hamsters, Mesocricetus, social environment, stress.

Wright, G.L., R. Morrison, M.E. Fultz, G. Wright, W. McCumbee, P. Wehner, and M. Studeny (2003). Effect of fasting on vascular contractility in lean and obese Zucker rats. Clinical Nutrition 22(4): 359-363. ISSN: 0261-5614.
Descriptors: Zucker rats, obese, lean, fasting, effect, vascular contractility, blood pressure, body weight.

Wright, S.L. and R.E. Brown (2000). Maternal behavior, paternal behavior, and pup survival in CD-1 albino mice (Mus musculus) in three different housing conditions. Journal of Comparative Psychology 114(2): 183-92. ISSN: 0735-7036.
Abstract: Parental behavior, food consumption, and pup development in litters of CD-1 albino mice (Mus musculus) with single mothers or paired mothers in 3 different housing conditions were compared. Fewer pups survived when parents were required to run in a wheel to obtain food, and these pups had lower weights than pups in the wheel-noncontingent and no-wheel groups. The presence of the male facilitated pup survival in the wheel-contingent group but had no effect on pup growth. Mice in the wheel-contingent group ran more revolutions than those in the wheel-noncontingent group and spent less time in parental care. In the wheel-contingent group, males spent more time running and ate less food than females, suggesting that males may indirectly facilitate pup development by providing food for the mother. The results suggest that the presence of the male increases pup care and may facilitate maternal behavior under appropriate environmental conditions.
Descriptors: appetitive behavior, animal behavior, maternal behavior, inbred mice strains psychology, paternal behavior, litter size, mice, survival.

Wurbel, H., R. Chapman, and C. Rutland (1998). Effect of feed and environmental enrichment on development of stereotypic wire-gnawing in laboratory mice. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 60(1): 69-81. ISSN: 0168-1591.
NAL Call Number: QL750.A6
Descriptors: mice, cages, enrichment, abnormal behavior, animal welfare, behavior patterns, physical activity, grooming, tubes, pelleted feeds, hardness, stereotypies, cardboard tubes.

Yabe, T. (2004). Feeding behavior and harming mechanism in commensal rodents. Medical Entomology and Zoology 55(4): 259-268. ISSN: 0424-7086.
Abstract: I discussed the relationships between harming mechanisms and feeding behavior such as commensalism, food habits, water requirements and responses to starvation in Rattus rattus, R. norvegicus, R. exulans and Mus musculus. Because of their commensalism they seasonally migrate between houses and the outdoors, and accidentally bring pathogens into houses. R. norvegicus is omnivorous and the others are basically herbivorous. However, they show unusual food habits and, for example, R. rattus eats bark and an excessive amount of insects when starving. Renal functions and food habits prove that R. norvegicus is the most prone to thirst, whereas M. musculus thrives in dry habitats. Feeding behavior is peculiar to rodent species and has characteristic relationship with harming mechanisms. Therefore, feeding behavior of involved species is a key factor to solve harming mechanisms.
Descriptors: behavior, pest assessment control and management, population studies, commensalism, feeding behavior, food habits, harming mechanism, renal function, starvation response, water requirements.

Yakovleva, T.V., N.M. Bazhan, and E.N. Makarova (1997). Effects of food deprivation in early pregnancy on the development of ovaries and adrenals in female progeny of the water vole (Arvicola terrestris). Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology, Part C, Pharmacology, Toxicology and Endocrinology 116(1): 103-109. ISSN: 1367-8280.
Descriptors: food deprivation, early pregnancy, ovaries, adrenals, development, female progeny, water voles.

Yeboah, S. and K.B. Dakwa (2002). Aspects of the feeding habits and reproductive biology of the Ghana mole-rat Cryptomys zechi (Rodentia, Bathyergidae). African Journal of Ecology 40(2): 110-119. ISSN: 0141-6707.
Descriptors: Ghana mole-rat, feeding habits, reproductive biology, aspects, stomach content, plant food source, breeding, birth weights.

Yi, I. and F.K. Stephan (1998). The effects of food deprivation, nutritive and non-nutritive feeding and wheel running on gastric stress ulcers in rats. Physiology and Behavior 63(2): 219-25. ISSN: 0031-9384.
Abstract: Feeding and housing conditions that induce gastric lesions were investigated. Rats were housed in activity wheels or in hanging cages and exposed to food deprivation, ad lib cellulose or 6 g of cellulose per day for 5 days. Food-deprived rats in both housing conditions had ulcers in the rumen but many rats also had mucosal ulcers. Cellulose prevented rumenal ulcers but produced a tendency toward more severe mucosal ulcers. Ulcers in wheel-housed rats were somewhat larger but the difference was not significant. In a second experiment, rats were fed 6 g/day laboratory chow or 6 g/day chow + ad lib cellulose until b.wt. reached a preset criterion. On the average, about 10 days on the feeding regimen were required to induce ulcers in these groups. None of the rats had rumenal ulcers. Mucosal ulcers were reliably larger in rats that received cellulose in addition to 6 g of chow. There was no difference in ulcer area between wheel-housed and cage-housed rats. The results indicate that solid bulk, regardless of its caloric value or amount, protects the nonglandular stomach whereas noncaloric bulk tends to aggravate ulcers in the glandular stomach. A small amount of chow delays the rate of b.wt. loss and consequently ulcer formation. Furthermore, wheel running is not necessary to produce mucosal ulcers when food intake is insufficient to maintain b.wt. and b.wt. at sacrifice seems to be a good predictor of ulcer formation.
Descriptors: cellulose administration and dosage, food deprivation physiology, motor activity physiology, stomach ulcer physiopathology, stress physiopathology, body weight physiology, diet, energy intake, rats, Sprague Dawley rats.

Yigit, N., E. Colak, M. Sozen, S. Ozkurt, and R. Verimli (2001). Observations on the feeding biology and behaviour of the fat dormouse, Glis glis orientalis nehring, 1903 (Mammalia: Rodentia) in captivity. Zoology in the Middle East 22: 17-24. ISSN: 0939-7140.
Descriptors: fat dormouse, feeding biology, behavior, observations, captivity, gnawing patterns, hibernation, Rodentia.

Yoda, T., L.I. Crawshaw, K. Yoshida, L. Su, T. Hosono, O. Shido, S. Sakurada, Y. Fukuda, and K. Kanosue (2000). Effects of food deprivation on daily changes in body temperature and behavioral thermoregulation in rats. American Journal of Physiology 278(1, Part 2): R134-R139. ISSN: 0002-9513.
NAL Call Number: 447.8 Am3
Abstract: Homeothermic animals regulate body temperature (Tb) by using both autonomic and behavioral mechanisms. In the latter process, animals seek out cooler or warmer places when they are exposed to excessively hot or cold environments. Thermoregulation is affected by the state of energy reserves in the body. In the present study, we examine the effects of 4-day food deprivation on circadian changes in Tb and on cold-escape and heat-escape behaviors in rats. Continuous measurement of Tb during food deprivation indicated that the peak Tb amplitude was not different from baseline values, but the trough amplitude continuously decreased after the onset of food deprivation. Cold-escape behavior was facilitated by food deprivation, whereas heat-escape behavior was unchanged. After the termination of food deprivation, the lowered Tb returned to normal on the first day. However, cold-escape behavior was still facilitated on the third day after food reintroduction. Autonomic and behavioral thermoregulatory effectors are modulated in the face of food shortage so as to maintain optimal performance during the active period, whereas increasing energy conservation occurs during the quiescent phase.
Descriptors: body temperature, deprivation, food deprivation, thermoregulation, energy conservation, effects, animal models, rats.

Yoon, H., W.S. Chung, Y.Y. Park, and I.H. Cho (2005). Effects of stress on female rat sexual function. International Journal of Impotence Research 17(1): 33-8. ISSN: 0955-9930.
Abstract: This study was undertaken to investigate whether prolonged stress interferes with sexual behavior and changes biochemical and physiologic mechanisms. Experiments were repeated three times with different rats in each period. In all, 63 female Sprague-Dawley rats were employed, with 21 rats in each period, and the control group was maintained at room temperature with free access to food and water. The stress group was maintained under a scheduled stress condition for 10 days, and seven rats from the group were randomly selected and exposed to the control environment for 10 days as the recovery group. Sexual behavior, hormonal values, and neuronal and endothelial nitric oxide synthase (nNOS and eNOS) expressions of vaginal tissue were analyzed and compared. Serum testosterone levels were significantly elevated in the stress and recovery groups (P<0.05). Female rats in the stress group showed reduced receptivity to their male mates (P<0.05). Western blot analysis demonstrated that nNOS and eNOS expressions were significantly lower in the stress group (P<0.05) than in the other groups. We conclude that chronic physical stress modifies the sexual behavior of female rats through a mechanism believed to involve complex changes in sex hormones, endocrine factors, and neurotransmitters.
Descriptors: sex behavior, animal physiology, stress, psychological psychology, western blotting, cold, gonadal steroid hormones blood, hormones blood, muscle relaxation physiology, muscle, smooth physiology, nerve tissue proteins metabolism, nitric oxide synthase metabolism, rats, Sprague Dawley rats, restraint, physical, starvation psychology, vagina enzymology.

Yoshioka, M., H. Togashi, T. Yamaguchi, and M. Matsumoto (2005). Emotional stress and functional development of the rat brain. Folia Pharmacologica Japonica 125(2): 77-82. ISSN: 0015-5691.
Descriptors: rat, brain, functional development, emotional stress, behavior, nervous system, neural coordination, behavioral and mental disorders, fear conditioning, fear response.

Youngblood, B.D., D.H. Ryan, and R.B.S. Harris (1997). Appetitive operant behavior and free-feeding in rat exposed to acute stress. Physiology and Behavior 62(4): 827-830. ISSN: 0031-9384.
Descriptors: rat, acute stress, exposed, free feeding, appetitive operant behavior.

Yupaporn, S. Kan suksa phruttikam khong krachong-nu nai krong liang. [Study on the behavior of lesser mouse-deer in captivity]. Journal of Wildlife in Thailand [Warasan Satpa Muang Thai] 4(2): 77-82. ISSN: 0858-396X.
Abstract: Study on behavior of Lesser Mouse-deer in captivity at Khok Mai Reau Wildlife Breeding Center, spaned 7 years from January 1986 to October 1993. Lesser Mouse-deer were kept in two different sizes of enclosures. The 18*18*1.2 cubic m. enclosure was used to keep large group of mixed sexes and each of thirty 2.5*2.5*1.2 cubic m enclosures was used to keep one pair of Lesser Mouse-deer. In mating season, mortality rates of males were high in large group of mixed sexes due to fighting among males for female. Single fawns were born after a gestation of 138-142 days, and 6veraged weight was 256.8 g. Weaning period was at the age of 3 month when fawns started to feed on vegetative parts and fruits. Fawns were marked with eartages at the age of 4 month and juvenile reached sexual maturity at the age of 5 month.
Descriptors: wild animals, behavior, captivity, cages, animal housing, wildlife.
Language of Text: Thai with English and Thai summaries.

Zadeh, A.R.B. and P.W. Emery (1997). The effect of surgical trauma on feeding behaviour in the rat. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society 56(2): 240A. ISSN: 0029-6651.
Descriptors: rat, feeding behavior, surgical trauma, effect.
Notes: Meeting Information: Joint Meeting of the Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism Group of the Nutrition Society and the British Association for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition, December 3-5, 1996, Blackpool, England, UK.

Zhang, S., T. Amsteint, J. Shen, F.R. Brush, and H.K. Gershenfeldt (2005). Molecular correlates of emotional learning using genetically selected rat lines. Genes Brain and Behavior 4(2): 99-109. ISSN: 1601-1848.
Abstract: The genetic contributions to active avoidance learning in rodents have been well established, yet the molecular basis for genetically selected line differences remains poorly understood. To identify candidate genes influencing this active avoidance paradigm, we utilized the bidirectionally selected Syracuse high- and low-avoidance (SHA and SLA) rat lines that markedly differ in their two-way active avoidance behavior. Rats were phenotyped, rested to allow recovery from testing stress and then hippocampi were dissected for gene expression profiling (Affymetrix U34A chips; approximately 7000 known genes), comparing SLA to SHA. Next, a subset of differentially expressed genes was confirmed by real-time PCR (RT-PCR) in hippocampi. Additional studies at the protein level were performed for some genes. Using triplicate arrays on pooled hippocampal samples, differentially expressed genes were identified by MICROARRAY SUITE 5.0 and robust multi-array average analyses. By RT-PCR analysis in hippocampi, eight genes were nominated as potential candidate genes consistent with the differential expression from the microarray data. Four genes, Veli1 (mlin-7B), SLC3a1, Ptpro and Ykt6p, showed higher expression in SHA hippocampi than SLA. Four genes, SLC6A4, Aldh1a4, Id3a, and Cd74, showed higher expression in SLA hippocampi than SHA. The active avoidance behavioral difference between lines probably emerges from 'many small things'. These potential candidate genes generate hypotheses for future testing in human association and rodent studies. Differences in levels of a pleiotropic gene like Ptpro and SLC6A4 suggest that small differences over a lifespan may contribute to large behavioral differences.
Descriptors: behavior, nervous system, neural coordination, molecular genetics, biochemistry and molecular biophysics, gene expression profiling, laboratory techniques, genetic techniques, real time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction, affymetriix U34A chip, laboratory equipment, microarray suite 5.0, computer software, emotional learning.

Zivkovic, I.P., A.K. Rakin, D.M. Petrovic Djergovic, D.J. Kosec, and M.V. Micic (2005). Exposure to forced swim stress alters morphofunctional characteristics of the rat thymus. Journal of Neuroimmunology 160(1-2): 77-86. ISSN: 0165-5728.
Descriptors: biochemistry and molecular biophysics, blood and lymphatics, transport and circulation, immune system, chemical coordination and homeostasis, endocrine system, chronic stress, behavioral and mental disorders, apoptosis.

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