Chemical and behavioural characterization of the rabbit mammary pheromone

Schaal, Benoı̂st; Coureaud, Gérard; Langlois, Dominique; Giniès, Christian; Sémon, Étienne; Perrier, Guy

doi:10.1038/nature01739

Cited by 320 publications

(230 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…This high level of response corroborates previous observations on the strong releasing potency of this compound (Coureaud et al, , 2004(Coureaud et al, and 2006aSchaal et al, 2003;Montigny et al, 2006). In the same time, the behavioural assay using the mammary pheromone permitted to target pups that are unresponsive to the pheromone on days 1 and 3.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

“…The behavioural assay (e.g. Coureaud et al, 2003 and2006a;Schaal et al, 2003) consisted in holding a pup in one gloved hand with its head left free to move. When the pup came to rest, the tip of the glass-stick carrying the mammary pheromone was positioned 0.5 cm in front of its muzzle, avoiding any contact.…”

Section: Stimulusmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The mammary pheromone belongs to this latter category. It is carried in rabbit milk and is an extremely potent activator of typical orocephalic movements that pups generally display to find the nipples under the nursing female (Coureaud, 2001;Coureaud et al, 2003 and2006a;Schaal et al, 2003).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The reactivity of neonatal rabbits to the mammary pheromone as a probe for viability

Coureaud

Fortun-Lamothe

Langlois³

et al. 2007

Animal

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Newborn rabbits depend on a daily nursing interaction with the mother to gain milk and to survive. During this interaction, they localise and seize the nipples displaying a typical behaviour triggered by maternal odour cues. The mammary pheromone constitutes such a signal in domestic rabbits: it elicits sucking-related movements in more than 90% of the pups. However, some newborns remain unresponsive to the presentation of the pheromone, even pups apparently healthy and highly motivated to suck. The main goal of the present study was therefore to explore the link between the unresponsiveness of rabbit pups to the mammary pheromone and their growth and survival in breeding conditions. To that end, 293 newborns from 30 litters were tested for their head searching-oral grasping responses to the mammary pheromone on days 1 and 3, and their milk intake and mortality were followed up from days 1 to 21. It was hypothesised that unresponsive newborns would have subsequent difficulties in finding nipples, sucking and surviving. Early weight and success in milk intake were further considered as mediating factors in growth and viability. The results showed that pups that were unresponsive to the mammary pheromone on day 1 were less successful in gaining milk and had a higher rate of mortality than the responsive pups. However, this impact was modulated by the weight of pups: it appeared only in the lightest newborns. Moreover, this impact vanished on day 3. On the other hand, the pup weight and sucking success on days 1 to 3 strongly influenced viability and growth during the period extending from days 1 to 21. Taken together, the results show that the day-1 responsiveness of rabbit pups to the mammary pheromone can be considered as an indicator of individual viability in pups having a small weight (,48 g on day 1). The predictive validity of the pups' pheromonal reactivity seems however time-limited as it works only during the first, but crucial, postnatal days.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

Section: Stimulusmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The reactivity of neonatal rabbits to the mammary pheromone as a probe for viability

Coureaud

Fortun-Lamothe

Langlois³

et al. 2007

Animal

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“…The pivotal publication by Karlson and Lü scher (1959) described the upwind-seeking behavior of male moths in the presence of a sexual attractant isolated from female moths. Releaser pheromones, however, exist in many more flavors and elicit various behaviors: aggression from males (Maruniak et al, 1986) and females (Bean and Wysocki, 1989); maternal behavior (Del Cerro, 1998), even from nulliparous females (Saito et al, 1998); suckling in infant rabbits (Schaal et al, 2003). Indeed, among humans, infants are attracted to breast odors of their mother and move in the direction of the odors (Varendi and Porter, 2001).…”

Section: Pheromone Response: Primers Signalers Modulators and Relementioning

confidence: 99%

Facts, fallacies, fears, and frustrations with human pheromones

2004

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Among primates in general, pheromones are of variable importance to social communication. Data on humans have generated the greatest controversy regarding the existence of pheromonal communication. In this review, the likelihood of pheromonal communication in humans is assessed with a discussion of chemical compounds produced by the axilla that may function as pheromones; the likelihood that the vomeronasal organ (VNO), a putative pheromone receptor organ in many other mammals, is functional in humans; and the possible ways pheromones operate in humans. In the human axilla, the interactions between the cutaneous microflora and axillary secretions render this region analogous to scent glands found in other primates. Both the chemistry of axillary secretions and their effects on conspecifics in humans appear to be analogous to other mammalian pheromone systems. Whichever chemical compounds serve a pheromonal function in humans, another unknown is the receptor. Although the VNO has been implicated in the reception of pheromones in many vertebrates, it is not the only pathway through which such information has access to the central nervous system; there is ample evidence to support the view that the olfactory epithelium can respond to pheromones. Furthermore, if a chemical activates receptors within the VNO, this does not necessarily mean that the compound is a pheromone. An important caveat for humans is that critical components typically found within the functioning VNO of other, nonprimate, mammals are lacking, suggesting that the human VNO does not function in the way that has been described for other mammals. In a broader perspective, pheromones can be classified as primers, signalers, modulators, and releasers. There is good evidence to support the presence of the former three in humans. Examples include affects on the menstrual cycle (primer effects); olfactory recognition of newborn by its mother (signaler); individuals may exude different odors based on mood (suggestive of modulator effects). However, there is no good evidence for releaser effects in adult humans. It is emphasized that no bioassay-guided study has led to the isolation of true human pheromones, a step that will elucidate specific functions to human chemical signals.

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“…Among mammals, rabbits are unusual in that they give their young ones minimal assistance during suckling and, in addition, only nurse them for a few minutes once each day Distel, 1983, 1984;Coureaud et al, 2008;Hudson et al, 2008). Therefore, successful suckling in the rabbit depends on the detection of specific odors on the mother's ventrum, the so-called nipplesearch pheromone (Hudson et al, 2008), which has been attributed to the presence of the substance 2-methylbut-2-enal in the doe's milk (Schaal et al, 2003). Supposedly for this reason, newborn rabbits are difficult to raise with the bottle, and when rendered anosmic, are completely unable to suckle from their mother Distel and Hudson, 1985;Hudson and Distel, 1987).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Morphofunctional Adaptations of the Olfactory Mucosa in Postnatally Developing Rabbits

Kavoi

Makanya

Plendl

et al. 2012

The Anatomical Record

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Rabbits are born blind and deaf and receive unusually limited maternal care. Consequently, their suckling young heavily rely on the olfactory cue for nipple attachment. However, the postnatal morphofunctional adaptations of olfactory mucosa (OM) are not fully elucidated. To clarify on the extent and the pattern of refinement of the OM following birth in the rabbit, morphologic and morphometric analysis of the mucosa were done at neonatal (0-1 days), suckling (2 weeks), weanling (4 weeks), and adult (6-8 months) stages of postnatal development. In all the age groups, the basic components of the OM were present. However, proliferative activity of cells of the mucosal epithelium decreased with increasing age as revealed by Ki-67 immunostaining. Diameters of axon bundles, packing densities of olfactory cells, and cilia numbers per olfactory cell knob increased progressively with age being 5.5, 2.1, and 2.6 times, respectively, in the adult as compared with the neonate. Volume fraction values for the bundles increased by 5.3% from birth to suckling age and by 7.4% from weaning to adulthood and the bundle cores were infiltrated with blood capillaries in all ages except in the adult where such vessels were lacking. The pattern of cilia projection from olfactory cell knobs also showed age-related variations, that is, arose as a tuft from the tips of the knobs in neonates and sucklings and in a radial pattern from the knob bases in weanlings and adults. These morphological changes may be attributed to the high olfactory functional demand associated with postnatal development in the rabbit.

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Chemical and behavioural characterization of the rabbit mammary pheromone

Cited by 320 publications

References 24 publications

The reactivity of neonatal rabbits to the mammary pheromone as a probe for viability

The reactivity of neonatal rabbits to the mammary pheromone as a probe for viability

Facts, fallacies, fears, and frustrations with human pheromones

Morphofunctional Adaptations of the Olfactory Mucosa in Postnatally Developing Rabbits

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