The maternal pheromone of the rat: testing some assumptions underlying a hypothesis.
Herein we report four experiments relating to the maternal pheromone of the rat that show (a) preweanling young consume pheromone-containing feces most conspicuously between 14 and 27 days; (b) they consume those feces preferentially; (c) such feces contain high levels of deoxycholic acid; and (d) preweanling young are deficient in deoxycholic acid. The data of these experiments lend support to the hypothesis that in responding to the pheromone the young ingest deoxycholic acid, a steroid believed to promote gut immunocompetence and brain myelination.
D000818:Animals; D000833:Animals, Suckling; D001646:Bile / Q000032:analysis*; D003840:Deoxycholic Acid / Q000032:analysis* / Q000172:deficiency; D005243:Feces / Q000032:analysis*; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D007774:Lactation; D010675:Pheromones / Q000032:analysis*; D011247:Pregnancy; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains
D010675:Pheromones; D003840:Deoxycholic Acid