| Title: | Sexual responses of male rats to odours from female rats in oestrus are not affected by female germ-free status |
| Author(s): | Nielsen BL; Jerome N; Saint-Albin A; Joly F; Rabot S; Meunier N; |
| Address: | "MoSAR, Inra, AgroParisTech, Universite Paris Saclay, 75005, Paris, France; NBO, Inra, Universite Paris Saclay, 78350, Jouy en Josas, France. Electronic address: birte.nielsen@inra.fr. NBO, Inra, Universite Paris Saclay, 78350, Jouy en Josas, France. Electronic address: nathalie.jerome@inra.fr. NBO, Inra, Universite Paris Saclay, 78350, Jouy en Josas, France. Electronic address: audrey.saint-albin-deliot@inra.fr. Micalis, Inra, AgroParisTech, Universite Paris Saclay, 78350, Jouy en Josas, France. Electronic address: fatima.joly@inra.fr. Micalis, Inra, AgroParisTech, Universite Paris Saclay, 78350, Jouy en Josas, France. Electronic address: sylvie.rabot@inra.fr. NBO, Inra, Universite Paris Saclay, 78350, Jouy en Josas, France; Universite de Versailles Saint-Quentin, 78000, Versailles, France; VIM, Inra, Universite Paris Saclay, 78350, Jouy en Josas, France. Electronic address: nicolas.meunier@inra.fr" |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.bbr.2018.09.018 |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 1872-7549 (Electronic) 0166-4328 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "Rats detect and use odorant molecules as a source of information about their environment. Some of these molecules come from conspecifics, and many arise as by-products from microbial activity. Thus, compared to conventionally housed rats, germ-free rats are raised in an environment with fewer odorants, but this reduction is rarely quantified. Using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, we found that germ-free rat faeces samples contained half as many volatile molecules than conventional rat faeces (52 vs 109 (+/-2.4) molecules; P < 0.001) and overall these were only 12% as abundant. We then investigated if odours from female germ-free rats in oestrus would have pro-erectile effects in conventional male rats. For this aim, conventionally housed Brown Norway (BN) rats (n = 16) with sexual experience with either Fischer or BN females, were exposed to four different odour types: faeces from germ-free Fischer rat in oestrus, faeces from conventional rats in oestrus and di-oestrus (either from Fischer or BN), and a control (either 1-hexanol or male rat faeces). The number of penile erections per test as well as the duration of freezing behaviour was significantly higher with the oestrous odours (germ-free and conventional) compared to the control, with intermediate responses to the di-oestrous faeces. The findings indicate that, despite a significantly reduced composition in terms of volatiles compared to conventionally housed rats, the faeces of germ-free rats contain sufficient odorants to evoke sexual responses in conventional male rats. Oestrous odours of rats thus appear not to be of microbial origin" |
| Keywords: | "Animals *Estrus/physiology Feces/chemistry Female *Germ-Free Life/physiology Male Odorants *Olfactory Perception Penile Erection Random Allocation Rats *Sexual Behavior, Animal/physiology Volatile Organic Compounds/analysis Axenic Germ-free Odours Oestrus;" |
| Notes: | "MedlineNielsen, Birte L Jerome, Nathalie Saint-Albin, Audrey Joly, Fatima Rabot, Sylvie Meunier, Nicolas eng Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't Netherlands 2018/09/28 Behav Brain Res. 2019 Feb 1; 359:686-693. doi: 10.1016/j.bbr.2018.09.018. Epub 2018 Sep 25" |
