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Touma, C., Palme, R., & Sachser, N. (2004). Analyzing corticosterone metabolites in fecal samples of mice: a noninvasive technique to monitor stress hormones. Horm Behav, 45(1), 10–22.
Abstract: In small animals like mice, the monitoring of endocrine functions over time is constrained seriously by the adverse effects of blood sampling. Therefore, noninvasive techniques to monitor, for example, stress hormones in these animals are highly demanded in laboratory as well as in field research. The aim of our study was to evaluate the biological relevance of a recently developed technique to monitor stress hormone metabolites in fecal samples of laboratory mice. In total, six experiments were performed using six male and six female mice each. Two adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) challenge tests, two dexamethasone (Dex) suppression tests and two control experiments [investigating effects of the injection procedure itself and the diurnal variation (DV) of glucocorticoids (GCs), respectively] were conducted. The experiments clearly demonstrated that pharmacological stimulation and suppression of adrenocortical activity was reflected accurately by means of corticosterone metabolite (CM) measurements in the feces of males and females. Furthermore, the technique proved sensitive enough to detect dosage-dependent effects of the ACTH/Dex treatment and facilitated to reveal profound effects of the injection procedure itself. Even the naturally occurring DV of GCs could be monitored reliably. Thus, our results confirm that measurement of fecal CM with the recently established 5alpha-pregnane-3beta,11beta,21-triol-20-one enzyme immunoassay is a very powerful tool to monitor adrenocortical activity in laboratory mice. Since mice represent the vast majority of all rodents used for research worldwide and the number of transgenic and knockout mice utilized as animal models is still increasing, this noninvasive technique can open new perspectives in biomedical and behavioral science.
Keywords: Adrenal Cortex/drug effects; Adrenal Cortex Function Tests; Adrenocorticotropic Hormone/pharmacology; Analysis of Variance; Animals; Circadian Rhythm; Corticosterone/*analysis/metabolism; Dexamethasone/pharmacology; Feces/*chemistry; Female; Immunoenzyme Techniques/*methods; Male; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Models, Animal; Reproducibility of Results; Stress, Psychological/*metabolism
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Touma, C., Sachser, N., Mostl, E., & Palme, R. (2003). Effects of sex and time of day on metabolism and excretion of corticosterone in urine and feces of mice. Gen Comp Endocrinol, 130(3), 267–278.
Abstract: Non-invasive techniques to monitor stress hormones in small animals like mice offer several advantages and are highly demanded in laboratory as well as in field research. Since knowledge about the species-specific metabolism and excretion of glucocorticoids is essential to develop such a technique, we conducted radiometabolism studies in mice (Mus musculus f. domesticus, strain C57BL/6J). Each mouse was injected intraperitoneally with 740 kBq of 3H-labelled corticosterone and all voided urine and fecal samples were collected for five days. In a first experiment 16 animals (eight of each sex) received the injection at 9 a.m., while eight mice (four of each sex) were injected at 9 p.m. in a second experiment. In both experiments radioactive metabolites were recovered predominantly in the feces, although males excreted significantly higher proportions via the feces (about 73%) than females (about 53%). Peak radioactivity in the urine was detected within about 2h after injection, while in the feces peak concentrations were observed later (depending on the time of injection: about 10h postinjection in experiment 1 and about 4h postinjection in experiment 2, thus proving an effect of the time of day). The number and relative abundance of fecal [3H]corticosterone metabolites was determined by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The HPLC separations revealed that corticosterone was extensively metabolized mainly to more polar substances. Regarding the types of metabolites formed, significant differences were found between males and females, but not between the experiments. Additionally, the immunoreactivity of these metabolites was assessed by screening the HPLC fractions with four enzyme immunoassays (EIA). However, only a newly established EIA for 5alpha-pregnane-3beta,11beta,21-triol-20-one (measuring corticosterone metabolites with a 5alpha-3beta,11beta-diol structure) detected several peaks of radioactive metabolites with high intensity in both sexes, while the other EIAs showed only minor immunoreactivity. Thus, our study for the first time provides substantial information about metabolism and excretion of corticosterone in urine and feces of mice and is the first demonstrating a significant impact of the animals' sex and the time of day. Based on these data it should be possible to monitor adrenocortical activity non-invasively in this species by measuring fecal corticosterone metabolites with the newly developed EIA. Since mice are extensively used in research world-wide, this could open new perspectives in various fields from ecology to behavioral endocrinology.
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Kaiser, S., Hennessy, M. B., & Sachser, N. (2015). Domestication affects the structure, development and stability of biobehavioural profiles. Frontiers in Zoology, 12(1), 1–11.
Abstract: Domestication is an evolutionary process during which the biobehavioural profile (comprising e.g. social and emotional behaviour, cognitive abilities, as well as hormonal stress responses) is substantially reshaped. Using a comparative approach, and focusing mainly on the domestic and wild guinea pig, an established model system for the study of domestication, we review (a) how wild and domestic animals of the same species differ in behaviour, emotion, cognition, and hormonal stress responses, (b) during which phases of life differences in biobehavioural profiles emerge and (c) whether or not animal personalities exist in both the wild and domestic form. Concerning (a), typical changes with domestication include increased courtship, sociopositive and maternal behaviours as well as decreased aggression and attentive behaviour. In addition, domestic animals display more anxiety-like and less risk-taking and exploratory behaviour than the wild form and they show distinctly lower endocrine stress responsiveness. There are no indications, however, that domestic animals have diminished cognitive abilities relative to the wild form. The different biobehavioural profiles of the wild and domestic animals can be regarded as adaptations to the different environmental conditions under which they live, i.e., the natural habitat and artificial man-made housing conditions, respectively. Concerning (b), the comparison of infantile, adolescent and adult wild and domestic guinea pigs shows that the typical biobehavioural profile of the domestic form is already present during early phases of life, that is, during early adolescence and weaning. Thus, differences between the domestic and the wild form can be attributed to genetic alterations resulting from artificial selection, and likely to environmental influences during the pre- and perinatal phase. Interestingly, the frequency of play behaviour does not differ between the domestic and wild form early in life, but is significantly higher in domesticated guinea pigs at later ages. Concerning (c), there is some evidence that personalities occur in both wild and domestic animals. However, there may be differences in which behavioural domains – social and sexual behaviour, emotionality, stress-responsiveness – are consistent over time. These differences are probably due to changing selection pressures during domestication.
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