scholarly journals Stress reactivity near birth affects nest building timing and offspring number and survival in the European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus)

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. e0246258
Author(s):  
Ildikó Benedek ◽  
Vilmos Altbӓcker ◽  
Tamás Molnár
Keyword(s):  
Maternal Behavior ◽  
Hormonal Regulation ◽  
Oryctolagus Cuniculus ◽  
Stress Reactivity ◽  
Late Pregnancy ◽  
Nest Building ◽  
European Rabbit ◽  
Stress Axis ◽  
Offspring Number ◽  
Nest Quality

The physiological response to stressors has great importance, and its variance has an adaptive role in the survival of individuals. This study describes the effects of stress-axis activation on maternal behavior during the birthing process (parturition) in captive rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus). In this species, chances of survival are strongly influenced by nest quality. Thus, maternal care is initiated with nest preparation in late pregnancy, which itself is subject to strict and complex hormonal regulation. Among these hormones, progesterone is one of the most dominant in the process of nest construction. We have demonstrated that its level is altered by the level of cortisol elevation in the animal in question, potentially having an influence on the preparation of the nest for the newborn kittens. We found that does that had a constant and un-elevated level of cortisol metabolite while delivering their litters performed better than those individuals that showed an increased corticoid response around parturition. The latter group exhibited a perceptible delay in the building of their nests, and in addition, further losses were also experienced in their already smaller litters. As the quality of the nest itself proved to be was in no way inferior to those of the other group, this higher kitten-mortality rate may be attributed to impaired maternal behavior. Individual variances in cortisol levels may also result in subtle changes in hormonal regulation, potentially affecting the expression of maternal behavior. We have concluded that the higher level of cortisol detected in more-sensitive does effectively disrupts the natural hormonal regulation involved in their nest-building processes.

Maternal Behavior in the Rabbit: Yearly and Seasonal Variation in Nest Building1)

Behaviour ◽  
1961 ◽  
Vol 18 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 154-160 ◽  
Author(s):  
V.H. Denenberg ◽  
P.B. Sawin ◽  
Sherman Ross ◽  
M.X. Zarrow
Keyword(s):  
Seasonal Variation ◽  
Maternal Behavior ◽  
Oryctolagus Cuniculus ◽  
Nest Building ◽  
Successful Pregnancy

AbstractAn analysis was made of more than nine hundred successful parturitions in four strains of rabbits, Oryctolagus cuniculus, for the period, 1953-59. The strains studied were : III, IIIc, AcEp, and X. The results showed that the number of successful pregnancies (production of one or more live-born young) varied from 57 percent in the winter months to 82 percent during the summer. This pattern was significantly different among strains. Within the successful pregnancy group, the proportion of failures to build material nests did not change significantly from season to season or from year to year. The time of nest building was found to differ significantly among the strains.

Genetic, Physiological and Behavioral Backround of reproduction in the Rabbit: IV. An Analysis of Maternal Behavior at Successive Parturitions

Behaviour ◽  
1958 ◽  
Vol 13 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 131-141 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victor H Denenberg ◽  
Gabriel P Fromer ◽  
Paul B Sawin ◽  
Sherman Ross
Keyword(s):  
Racial Differences ◽  
Maternal Behavior ◽  
Positive Relationship ◽  
Linear Increase ◽  
Race Differences ◽  
Nest Building ◽  
Nest Construction ◽  
Positive Relation ◽  
Nest Quality

AbstractA previous study of maternal behavior in the rabbit dealing with the improvement in nest quality in successive parturitions is here extended to four other aspects of maternal behavior. No significant differences were found for scores on interest in young or pre-parturient aggression either among the four races investigated or over a number of litters. Race differences significant at the .05 level were obtained for post-parturient aggression scores involving two and four litters. A linear increase significant at the .01 level was revealed in the same measure for one race when four litters were considered. Significant racial differences were also found with respect to time of nest building. A second set of analyses dealt with the relation of other variables to the quality of nest construction. The only measure found to have a distinct positive relation to nest quality was the percentage of liveborn young suckled on the first day of life. An ambiguous, but weakly positive relationship was found between nest quality and time of nest building relative to parturition. A weak relationship was found between time of nest construction and the percent of liveborn young suckled the first day. These findings suggest the possibility of some factor or factors acting in common upon the nesting and suckling activities in maternal behavior.

Genetic, Physiological, and Behavioral Background of Reproduction in the Rabbit

Behaviour ◽  
1960 ◽  
Vol 15 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 71-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul B. Sawin ◽  
Stephen F. Petropolus ◽  
Victor H. Denenberg ◽  
Sherman Ross
Keyword(s):  
Maternal Behavior ◽  
Maternal Care ◽  
Nest Building ◽  
Newborn Mortality ◽  
Cent Mortality ◽  
Positive Correlations ◽  
Nest Quality

AbstractThe records of a number of female rabbits of races III, IIIc, X, and AcEp which had produced at least four litters were analyzed for correlations between scattering and cannibalism and five other measures of maternal behavior. These rabbits were classed as low newborn mortality mothers and the maternal behavior scores for their first successful litter were compared with the behavioral scores of high newborn mortality mothers (60 per cent mortality of complete litters) for their first successful litter. Only race IIIc showed any significant amount of scattering and cannibalism. In this race, correlational analyses of scattering and cannibalism against the five other measures of maternal behavior found that both were significantly related to nest quality and had weaker, though positive, correlations with time of nest building. Race IIIc does were only moderately consistent in their scattering or cannibalizing behavior over four litters and these variables were correlated .404. No differences were found between high and low newborn mortality mothers except for race AcEp, where the low mortality mothers were found to have significantly more interest in their young and to be better nurse-mothers than the high newborn mortality does. The findings from this study and a previous one (DENENBERG, et al., 1958) indicate that better nest quality, earlier time of nest building, greater percentage of live born young suckled on the first day, lack of scattering, and lack of cannibalism are inter-correlated. It was concluded that these characteristics can be classified as a "maternal care" complex which appears to be independent of a second group involving interest in young and aggressive protection.

scholarly journals Prenatally traumatized mice reveal hippocampal methylation and expression changes of the stress-related genes Crhr1 and Fkbp5

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne-Christine Plank ◽  
Stefan Frey ◽  
Lukas Andreas Basedow ◽  
Jalal Solati ◽  
Fabio Canneva ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Stress Reactivity ◽  
Dorsal Hippocampus ◽  
Methylation Status ◽  
Stress Axis ◽  
Mrna Levels ◽  
Fk506 Binding Protein ◽  
Adult Mice ◽  
Stress Related Genes ◽  
Long Term Impact

AbstractIn our previous study, we found that prenatal trauma exposure leads to an anxiety phenotype in mouse pups, characterized by increased corticosterone levels and increased anxiety-like behavior. In order to understand the mechanisms by which aversive in utero experience leads to these long-lasting behavioral and neuroendocrine changes, we investigated stress reactivity of prenatally traumatized (PT) mice, as well as the expression and methylation levels of several key regulatory genes of the stress axis in the dorsal hippocampus (dHPC) of the PT embryo and adult mice. We detected increased corticotropin-releasing hormone receptor 1 (Crhr1) and decreased FK506 binding protein 5 (Fkbp5) mRNA levels in the left dHPC of adult PT mice. These alterations were accompanied by a decreased methylation status of the Crhr1 promoter and an increased methylation status of the Fkbp5 promoter, respectively. Interestingly, the changes in Fkbp5 and Crhr1 mRNA levels were not detected in the embryonic dHPC of PT mice. Together, our findings provide evidence that prenatal trauma has a long-term impact on stress axis function and anxiety phenotype associated with altered Crhr1 and Fkbp5 transcripts and promoter methylation.

Effects of small medial preoptic area lesions on maternal behavior: Retreiving and nest building in the rat

1980 ◽  
Vol 194 (2) ◽  
pp. 471-478 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carol D. Jacobson ◽  
Joseph Terkel ◽  
Roger A. Gorski ◽  
Charles H. Sawyer
Keyword(s):  
Maternal Behavior ◽  
Preoptic Area ◽  
Medial Preoptic Area ◽  
Nest Building

Maternal Behavior in the Rat: an Investigation and Quantification of Nest Building

Behaviour ◽  
1969 ◽  
Vol 34 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 1-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victor H. Denenberg ◽  
M.X. Zarrow ◽  
Rhoda E. Taylor
Keyword(s):  
Maternal Behavior ◽  
Nest Building ◽  
Significant Finding ◽  
Nest Material ◽  
Warm Temperature ◽  
Ambient Temperatures ◽  
Pregnant Females ◽  
Series Of Experiments ◽  
Similarities And Differences ◽  
Over Time

AbstractA technique has been developed to quantify nest building in rats. Small wooden dowels are provided as nest material. Rats shred the dowels, and the degree of nest building is determined by the amount shredded daily. Pregnant females show a marked increase in dowel shredding at or just prior to the time of parturition; shredding falls precipitously after parturition. Males and nonpregnant females show no such pattern over an equivalent period of time; their dowel shredding, in fact, decreases over time. A series of experiments were carried out involving hormone manipulations of pregnant and nonpregnant females. The only significant finding was that progesterone reduced the percentage of females which shredded dowels and also delayed the time of onset of this behavior. When nonpregnant females and males were exposed to cool ambient temperatures, dowel shredding increased markedly. On the other hand, exposing females to a warm temperature blocked dowel shredding behavior. Some similarities and differences between these findings and findings for the rabbit and mouse are discussed.

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