Genetique Medicale et Genomique Fonctionnelle, Inserm UMR 910, Faculte de Medecine de Timone, 27 boulevard Jean Moulin, 13385 Marseille Cedex 05, France.
Behav Brain Res. 2012 Sep 1;234(1):117-20. doi: 10.1016/j.bbr.2012.06.009. Epub 2012 Jun 20.
Usual housing conditions lead to dominance hierarchy forming between male mice. The situation produces physiological and behavioural differences between dominants and subordinates. The goal of the present study was to assess stress responses, and possible changes in prepulse inhibition (PPI) of the startle reflex in dominant and subordinate male mice. Three weeks of daily social interactions led to stable aggressive dominance in 11 pairs of male NMRI mice. Stress levels were assessed by measuring faecal corticosterone metabolites (FCM), a non-invasive technique for monitoring hormonal changes in response to specific situations, with repeated sampling of each animal. The analysis of FCM levels showed greater stress in subordinate males at the beginning of the experiment, as the hierarchy was being established, but by the end of the experiment, FCM levels were reduced and similar in both dominants and subordinates. No significant differences were found in the startle response or PPI.
在通常的饲养条件下，雄性小鼠之间会形成优势等级。这种情况会导致优势个体和从属个体在生理和行为上产生差异。本研究的目的是评估应激反应，以及在优势和从属雄性 NMRI 小鼠中，惊吓反射的前脉冲抑制 (PPI) 是否发生变化。通过 11 对雄性 NMRI 小鼠的日常社会互动，持续 3 周，形成了稳定的攻击性优势等级。通过对每个动物进行重复取样，使用粪便皮质酮代谢物 (FCM) 测量来评估应激水平，这是一种监测特定情况下激素变化的非侵入性技术。FCM 水平的分析表明，从属雄性在实验开始时的压力更大，因为等级正在建立，但在实验结束时，FCM 水平降低，优势个体和从属个体相似。在惊吓反应或 PPI 方面没有发现显著差异。
