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Suckling: Developmental indicator of genetic obesity in mice
Author(s) -
Wilson Linda M.,
Chang ShihShung P.,
Henning Susan J.,
Margules David L.
Publication year - 1981
Publication title -
developmental psychobiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.055
H-Index - 93
eISSN - 1098-2302
pISSN - 0012-1630
DOI - 10.1002/dev.420140109
Subject(s) - overeating , endocrinology , obesity , medicine , phenotype , biology , lactation , feeding behavior , food intake , pregnancy , genetics , gene
The Bar Harbor obese‐hyperglycemic mouse (ob/ob) characteristically develops its obese phenotype during the postweaning period, when access to food is unrestricted and its behavioral phenotype of hyperphagia appears. In the present study suckling behavior (viz., nipple attachment latencies and total suckling time) of lean and preobese mouse pups, derived from matings of heterozygous lean parents, was measured in either fed or fasted conditions from 6 to 21 days postpartum on anesthetized dams. Twenty‐hour milk deprivation selectively channeled pup activity into suckling for both preobese and lean mice, although, in general, preobese mice nipple‐attached sooner and suckled longer than leans. In particular, fed preobese pups suckled longer than fed lean pups from 18 days on, providing a preweaning behavioral indicant of a genetic tendency to obesity when environmental constraints on overeating are minimized.