Comparison of Urinary Scents of Two Related Mouse Species, Mus spicilegus and Mus domesticus

Behavioral responses of predator-naïve dwarf hamsters (Phodopus campbelli) to odor cues of the European ferret fed with different prey species

“…mice are different from rats, hamsters, voles, etc. Additionally, even the urinary volatile profiles from different mouse strains [36] or related mouse species [42] are readily noted for the animals maintained on the same diet. While dietary variations are unlikely to result in measurable amounts of "new compounds", the Table 2 Eigenvalues, percentage of variance explained for the 5 principal components and coefficients for the principal components PC1-PC5.…”

Volatile Metabolites

“…MAE has been optimized to determine volatile profiles from powdered dry stems and leaves of the Chinese medicinal herb Gymnotheca involucrata by GC-MS SPME with RSDs of less than 9% [25]. Magnetic stirring bars coated with a volatile adsorbing phase (Twister™, Gerstal GmbH) may also be used to concentrate volatiles from more demanding and complex matrices such as human saliva [26] or to distinguish between urinary volatile profiles of mice [27]. Volatiles are subsequently thermally desorbed from the surface of the stir bars and analyzed by GC-MS.…”

“…Differences between the volatile profiles of individual humans (breath odor and taste of urine) are long known and have been used diagnostically as indicators of disease. Volatiles are also emitted by humans through the skin and in saliva [26], and are excreted in the faeces and urine [27] as a result of complex interactions between human metabolism and the intestinal microflora. Exhaled breath contains a complex mixture of volatiles, is easily obtained, and has been used as a marker of exposure of humans to occupational and environmental pollutants [98] and to distinguish patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease from a control group of healthy smokers [40].…”

Biochemical individuality reflected in chromatographic, electrophoretic and mass-spectrometric profiles

“…For example, two groups which differ substantially in their nesting behavior and breeding are Mus musculus domesticus (common house mouse, which has a polygamous mating system) and Mus spicilegus (mound-building mouse, which is monogamous). During recent investigations [132], we have observed some major molecular differences between the two male mouse groups (Fig. 15): the key pheromone of the house mouse, 2-sec-butyl-4,5-dihydrothiazole [133] is missing in the urine of M. spicilegus, while a different set of oxygenated volatiles, which are also under testosterone control, appear within the complex GC-MS profile.…”