title: Male Presence can Increase Body Mass and Induce a Stress-Response in Female Mice Independent of Costs of Offspring Production.
abstract: Sexual reproduction in animals requires close interactions with the opposite sex. These interactions may generate costs of reproduction, because mates can induce detrimental physiological or physical effects on one another, due to their interest in maximising their own fitness. To understand how a male's presence influences aspects of female physiology implicated in reproductive costs in mice, independent of offspring production, we paired females with vasectomised, castrated or intact males, or other females. Being paired with a male, irrespective of his gonadal status, increased female weight. This effect was transient in females paired with castrated males but more persistent in those with vasectomised males. Those paired with males also showed an increase in corticosterone, suggesting an increased stress response. However, this was dependent on the gonadal status of the male housing partner, since those housed with vasectomised males had lower corticosterone than those with castrated males. Altered energy metabolism was only detectable in pregnant females, and oxidative stress was not consistently affected by a female's housing partner. These results suggest that a male's presence alters female weight, and stresses associated with reproduction could be induced by simply the presence of a male, but reduced by mating and/or being solicited to mate.
authors.affiliation: Evolution and Ecology Research Group and School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.|Department of Pathology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, United States.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Garratt
authors.affiliation: Neuromuscular and Regenerative Medicine Unit, School of Medical Sciences, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.
authors.forename: Anthony J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Kee
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Sciences/Unit of Physiology, Pathophysiology and Experimental Endocrinology, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, A-1210 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Rupert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Palme
authors.affiliation: Evolution and Ecology Research Group and School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.
authors.forename: Robert C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Brooks
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015992:Body Mass Index; D003345:Corticosterone / Q000032:analysis*; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D011247:Pregnancy; D012726:Sexual Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D013312:Stress, Physiological
chemical_list: D003345:Corticosterone