| Title: | Identification of a pheromone that increases anxiety in rats |
| Author(s): | Inagaki H; Kiyokawa Y; Tamogami S; Watanabe H; Takeuchi Y; Mori Y; |
| Address: | "Laboratory of Veterinary Ethology, Department of Animal Resource Sciences, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8657, Japan; Technical Research Institute, T. Hasegawa Co., Ltd., Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa 211-0022, Japan; and. Laboratory of Organic Chemistry, Department of Applied Biological Chemistry, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8657, Japan. Laboratory of Veterinary Ethology, Department of Animal Resource Sciences, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8657, Japan; aytake@mail.ecc.u-tokyo.ac.jp" |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 1091-6490 (Electronic) 0027-8424 (Print) 0027-8424 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "Chemical communication plays an important role in the social lives of various mammalian species. Some of these chemicals are called pheromones. Rats release a specific odor into the air when stressed. This stress-related odor increases the anxiety levels of other rats; therefore, it is possible that the anxiety-causing molecules are present in the stress-related odorants. Here, we have tried to identify the responsible molecules by using the acoustic startle reflex as a bioassay system to detect anxiogenic activity. After successive fractionation of the stress-related odor, we detected 4-methylpentanal and hexanal in the final fraction that still possessed anxiogenic properties. Using synthetic molecules, we found that minute amounts of the binary mixture, but not either molecule separately, increased anxiety in rats. Furthermore, we determined that the mixture increased a specific type of anxiety and evoked anxiety-related behavioral responses in an experimental model that was different from the acoustic startle reflex. Analyses of neural mechanisms proposed that the neural circuit related to anxiety was only activated when the two molecules were simultaneously perceived by two olfactory systems. We concluded that the mixture is a pheromone that increases anxiety in rats. To our knowledge, this is the first study identifying a rat pheromone. Our results could aid further research on rat pheromones, which would enhance our understanding of chemical communication in mammals" |
| Keywords: | "*Aldehydes/chemistry/pharmacology Animals *Anxiety/chemically induced/physiopathology Behavior, Animal/*drug effects *Caproates/chemistry/pharmacology Male Olfactory Bulb/physiopathology *Pheromones/chemistry/pharmacology Rats Rats, Wistar Reflex, Startle;" |
| Notes: | "MedlineInagaki, Hideaki Kiyokawa, Yasushi Tamogami, Shigeyuki Watanabe, Hidenori Takeuchi, Yukari Mori, Yuji eng Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't 2014/12/17 Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2014 Dec 30; 111(52):18751-6. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1414710112. Epub 2014 Dec 15" |
