Excreted urine, bladder urine, and the delay of sexual maturation in female house mice.
A series of experiments tested effects of excreted and bladder urine of group- and singly-caged female house mice (Mus musculus) on sexual maturation of young female mice caged alone or in groups of eight. Puberty was determined by vaginal smears. A maturation-delaying pheromone was present in bladder urine of all female mice and excreted urine of group-caged females, but not in excreted urine from singly-caged females. Test mice treated with bladder urine homogenized with urethras from singly-caged females matured at the same age as controls. Apparently the urethras or associated glands of singly-caged females produce a substance which deactivates the maturation-delaying pheromone contained in bladder urine.
D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D006799:Housing, Animal; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice / Q000652:urine*; D010675:Pheromones / Q000378:metabolism / Q000652:urine*; D012741:Sexual Maturation; D012931:Social Environment; D012934:Social Isolation; D014521:Urethra / Q000378:metabolism
D010675:Pheromones