Chen Yue, Lewis Robert, Curtis J Thomas
Department of Pharmacology and Physiology, Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences, Tulsa, Oklahoma, UK.
Integr Zool. 2018 Nov;13(6):761-768. doi: 10.1111/1749-4877.12306.
Mercury chloride exposure through drinking water in adult male prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster) has been shown to alter their social behavior. Here, we examined the potential disruption of adult social behavior in prairie voles that were exposed to 60 ppm mercury during early development. We used a cross-fostering approach to test the effects of mercury exposure: (1) from conception until birth; (ii) from birth until weaning; and (iii) from conception until weaning, on adult affiliative behavior. Untreated and mercury-treated voles were given the option of remaining in an empty cage or affiliating with a same-sex conspecific in a 3-h choice test. We found that early developmental mercury exposure had little if any effect on the reproductive success of breeder pairs or on affiliative behavior by either sex when subjects were tested as adults. These results suggest that, at least in the context of the behavior tested, the effects of early developmental exposure to mercury do not permanently alter adult prairie vole affiliative behavior, or do so in a way that is too subtle to be detected using the current testing paradigm.
成年雄性草原田鼠（Microtus ochrogaster）通过饮用水接触氯化汞已被证明会改变它们的社会行为。在此，我们研究了在早期发育过程中接触60 ppm汞的草原田鼠成年后社会行为的潜在破坏情况。我们采用交叉寄养方法来测试汞暴露的影响：（1）从受孕到出生；（ii）从出生到断奶；以及（iii）从受孕到断奶，对成年后的亲和行为的影响。在一项3小时的选择测试中，未处理和经汞处理的田鼠可以选择留在空笼子里，或者与同性同种个体建立联系。我们发现，当作为成年个体进行测试时，早期发育阶段的汞暴露对繁殖对的繁殖成功率或任何性别的亲和行为几乎没有影响。这些结果表明，至少在所测试的行为背景下，早期发育阶段接触汞的影响不会永久性地改变成年草原田鼠的亲和行为，或者以一种过于微妙以至于使用当前测试范式无法检测到的方式改变。
