Title: | The maternal pheromone of the rat: testing some assumptions underlying a hypothesis |
Author(s): | Kilpatrick SJ; Lee TM; Moltz H; |
DOI: | 10.1016/0031-9384(83)90217-2 |
ISSN/ISBN: | 0031-9384 (Print) 0031-9384 (Linking) |
Abstract: | "Herein we report four experiments relating to the maternal pheromone of the rat that show (a) preweanling young consume pheromone-containing feces most conspicuously between 14 and 27 days; (b) they consume those feces preferentially; (c) such feces contain high levels of deoxycholic acid; and (d) preweanling young are deficient in deoxycholic acid. The data of these experiments lend support to the hypothesis that in responding to the pheromone the young ingest deoxycholic acid, a steroid believed to promote gut immunocompetence and brain myelination" |
Keywords: | "Animals Animals, Suckling Bile/*analysis Deoxycholic Acid/*analysis/deficiency Feces/*analysis *Feeding Behavior Female Lactation Pheromones/*analysis Pregnancy Rats Rats, Inbred Strains;" |
Notes: | "MedlineKilpatrick, S J Lee, T M Moltz, H eng HD-06872/HD/NICHD NIH HHS/ S07RR07029/RR/NCRR NIH HHS/ Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S. 1983/04/01 Physiol Behav. 1983 Apr; 30(4):539-43. doi: 10.1016/0031-9384(83)90217-2" |