title: Housing conditions affect susceptibility to mercury in the golden hamster.
abstract: Individually-housed and group-housed golden hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus), aged 8 weeks, were studied with regard to their susceptibility to a single gavage of mercuric chloride (10 mg/kg body weight). Body weight and food consumption were measured for 10 days (day -9 to day 0) in a pre-application period and for 13 days (day 1 to day 13) in a post-application period. Mercuric chloride administration significantly reduced body weight gain in both isolated and grouped hamsters at day 1 compared to vehicle controls. While the individually-housed treated hamsters recovered during the post-application period, the group-housed treated hamsters showed a reduced body weight gain over the whole post-application period. Results are discussed in relation to elevated susceptibility to intoxication in group-housed hamsters triggered by high social stress. This study highlights the need to carefully consider the housing conditions which can influence the results of teratological experiments.
authors.affiliation: Martin-Luther-Universität, Halle-Wittenberg, Institut für Zoologie, Halle (Saale), Germany. korz@ifn-magdeburg.de
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Korz
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gattermann
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D006224:Cricetinae; D004435:Eating / Q000187:drug effects; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D008627:Mercuric Chloride / Q000506:poisoning*; D008647:Mesocricetus / Q000502:physiology*; D012924:Social Conditions; D015430:Weight Gain / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D008627:Mercuric Chloride