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  • Title: The importance of social condition in the hormonal and behavioral responses to an acute social stressor in the male Siberian dwarf hamster (Phodopus sungorus).
    Author: Castro WL, Matt KS.
    Journal: Horm Behav; 1997 Dec; 32(3):209-16. PubMed ID: 9454672.
    Abstract:
    Social condition is an important factor in determining the behavioral and hormonal responses to a social stressor in the Siberian dwarf hamster (Phodopus sungorus). We predict that males housed with a female or a family (female and pups) will show an increase in the magnitude of the behavioral and hormonal responses to a male intruder compared to those of individually housed males. Three treatment groups were studied: individually housed males that had been previously group-housed in same-sex colonies (males, n = 10), males housed with a female (male + female, n = 9), and males housed with their female and pups (male + family, n = 12). Males were monitored for aggressive behavior toward an intruder male for 10 min. Blood samples were taken at baseline and after the encounter. Male + female and male + family groups spent more time in aggressive behavior (P < 0.05), such as attacking (P < 0.05) and fighting (P < 0.05), than did individually housed males. These same groups showed significant increases in plasma cortisol after the encounter (P < 0.01) whereas there were no significant increases in plasma cortisol in solitary males. All groups showed significantly lower levels of plasma testosterone (male, P < 0.001, male + female, P < 0.05; male + family, P < 0.01) whereas a significant increase in prolactin occurred only in the male + family group (P < 0.05). There was a significant positive correlation between postencounter cortisol levels and total number of minutes spent in aggressive behavior (P < 0.05). These results demonstrate that the introduction of a novel intruder male results in an activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical axis and a suppression of the reproductive axis. Furthermore, pairing of a male with a female alters the behavioral and hormonal responses to an intruder male.
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