Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico.
Physiol Behav. 2011 Jun 1;103(3-4):336-41. doi: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2011.02.036. Epub 2011 Feb 26.
Many aspects of an animal's early development contribute to the emergence of individual differences in physiology. Here we asked whether litter size, birth mass, suckling success and postnatal growth were predictors of individual differences in testosterone (T) and corticosterone (CORT) levels in neonatal domestic rabbits. Serum concentrations of both hormones, which we measured on postnatal day 8, were significantly and positively correlated with pup growth and milk intake. Litter size and birth mass were not significantly correlated with levels of T and CORT, although both parameters were indirectly associated with the levels of these hormones via their effects on milk intake and pup growth. Our results highlight the importance of naturally occurring features of the postnatal environment in shaping individual differences in T and CORT levels during early life.
动物早期发育的许多方面有助于个体在生理上出现差异。在这里，我们研究了窝仔数、初生重、哺乳成功率和产后生长是否可以预测初生家兔的睾丸酮（T）和皮质酮（CORT）个体差异。我们在出生后第 8 天测量了这两种激素的血清浓度，发现它们与幼仔生长和奶摄入量呈显著正相关。窝仔数和初生重与 T 和 CORT 水平没有显著相关性，尽管这两个参数通过其对奶摄入量和幼仔生长的影响，间接地与这些激素的水平相关。我们的研究结果强调了产后环境中自然发生的特征在塑造生命早期 T 和 CORT 水平个体差异方面的重要性。
