A comparative analysis of feeding and hoarding in hamsters and gerbils

Male and female hamsters and gerbils were randomly assigned to one of three groups. The animals were tested under ad lib feeding conditions or food deprived until they had lost either 10% or 20% of their predeprivation body weight. They were given a 30-min. hoarding test for three consecutive days. The results indicated that although food-deprived gerbils ate more than control gerbils, deprivation had no significant effect on the food intake of hamsters. A sex difference was also evident in the food intake of gerbils; males ate more than did females. Although there was a sex and species difference in the amount of hoarding, deprivation had no significant effect on the amount of hoarding. The implications of these results for of different models of hoarding are discussed. These models contrast hoarding as a defensive response in the regulation of body weight or as an anticipatory activity that is influenced by other selection pressures.     

剥夺食物对雄性长爪沙鼠贮食行为的影响

禁食导致一些啮齿动物的贮食量增加,但禁食处理后雄性长爪沙鼠贮食行为的变化则不一致。每天禁食22 h,长爪沙鼠的一些个体表现出高水平的贮食行为(禁食贮食组),而另一些个体则没有表现出贮食行为(禁食无贮食组)。延长禁食(22 h)持续的时间(连续重复3 d 和20 d)和增加禁食时间(禁食48 h),都没有使禁食无贮食组的动物表现出贮食行为。同样在自由取食条件下,长爪沙鼠的贮食行为也表现为二型性。在自由取食和禁食条件下,贮食量与体重、体脂含量和瘦素的浓度之间无明显相关关系。研究结果表明,禁食是诱导雄性长爪沙鼠贮食行为发生的一个重要条件,但增加禁食的程度并不改变其贮食行为的表现。     

Food hoarding is increased by food deprivation and decreased by leptin treatment in Syrian hamsters

Compensatory increases in food intake are commonly observed after a period of food deprivation in many species, including laboratory rats and mice. Thus it is interesting that Syrian hamsters fail to increase food intake after a period of food deprivation, despite a fall in plasma leptin concentrations similar to those seen in food-deprived rats and mice. In previous laboratory studies, food-deprived Syrian hamsters increased the amount of food hoarded. We hypothesized that leptin treatment during food deprivation would attenuate food-deprivation-induced increases in hoarding. Baseline levels of hoarding were bimodally distributed, with no hamsters showing intermediate levels of hoarding. Both high (HH) and low hoarding (LH) hamsters were included in each experimental group. Fifty-six male hamsters were either food deprived or given ad libitum access to food for 48 h. One-half of each group received intraperitoneal injections of leptin (4 mg/kg) or vehicle every 12 h during the food-deprivation period. Within the HH group, the hoarding score increased significantly in food-deprived but not fed hamsters (P < 0.05). Leptin treatment significantly decreased hoarding in the food-deprived HH hamsters (P < 0.05). The LH hamsters did not increase hoarding regardless of whether they were food deprived or had ad libitum access to food. These results are consistent with the idea that HH hamsters respond to energetic challenges at least in part by changing their hoarding behavior and that leptin might be one factor that mediates this response.     

Food hoarding,but not food intake,is attenuated by acute diazepam treatment in female Mongolian gerbils (Meriones unguiculatus)

This article is part of a Special Issue “Energy Balance”. Effects of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) on food hoarding are unknown in rodents, and the effects of energy balance and GABA have not been evaluated in females. To evaluate the role of food deprivation and GABA on food hoarding, female Mongolian gerbils were given i.p. injection of diazepam (1 mg/kg and 3 mg/kg, respectively), a GABA_A receptor agonist. Among food-deprived females, there was a bimodal pattern in the frequency of gerbils with different levels of food hoarding. High food hoarding (HFH) and low food hoarding (LFH) gerbils were analyzed. Diazepam blocked food deprivation-induced food hoarding in HFH gerbils, but not in LFH gerbils. This blockade was associated with increased cellular activation in selected brain areas, such as the nucleus accumbens (NAcc), caudate putamen (CP) and ventral tegmental area (VTA), which suggested that direct activation of GABA in the brain reward circuitry decreased food hoarding in HFH females. Moreover, diazepam increased Fos expression in field CA₂ and CA₃ of the hippocampus, but had no significant effect on Fos expression in field CA₁ and dentate gyrus (DG) of the hippocampus, indicating that the hippocampus has area-specific effects on food hoarding in HFH gerbils. Diazepam did not alter food intake in both HFH and LFH gerbils. In addition, serum corticosterone concentrations were higher in the HFH than in the LFH ones. Together, these data indicated that food deprivation increased food hoarding in female gerbils, diazepam reduced food deprivation-induced food hoarding in HFH gerbils, and that GABA might influence food hoarding via classical reward circuitry via the mesolimbic dopamine system and specific hippocampal areas.     

Neural and hormonal control of food hoarding

Many animals hoard food, including humans, but despite its pervasiveness, little is known about the physiological mechanisms underlying this appetitive behavior. We summarize studies of food hoarding in humans and rodents with an emphasis on mechanistic laboratory studies of species where this behavior importantly impacts their energy balance (hamsters), but include laboratory rat studies although their wild counterparts do not hoard food. The photoperiod and cold can affect food hoarding, but food availability is the most significant environmental factor affecting food hoarding. Food-deprived/restricted hamsters and humans exhibit large increases in food hoarding compared with their fed counterparts, both doing so without overeating. Some of the peripheral and central peptides involved in food intake also affect food hoarding, although many have not been tested. Ad libitum-fed hamsters given systemic injections of ghrelin, the peripheral orexigenic hormone that increases with fasting, mimics food deprivation-induced increases in food hoarding. Neuropeptide Y or agouti-related protein, brain peptides stimulated by ghrelin, given centrally to ad libitum-fed hamsters, duplicates the early and prolonged postfood deprivation increases in food hoarding, whereas central melanocortin receptor agonism tends to inhibit food deprivation and ghrelin stimulation of hoarding. Central or peripheral leptin injection or peripheral cholecystokinin-33, known satiety peptides, inhibit food hoarding. Food hoarding markedly increases with pregnancy and lactation. Because fasted and/or obese humans hoard more food in general, and more high-density/high-fat foods specifically, than nonfasted and/or nonobese humans, understanding the mechanisms underlying food hoarding could provide another target for behavioral/pharmacological approaches to curb obesity.     

MTII attenuates ghrelin- and food deprivation-induced increases in food hoarding and food intake

Food deprivation triggers a constellation of physiological and behavioral changes including increases in peripherally-produced ghrelin and centrally-produced agouti-related protein (AgRP). Upon refeeding, food intake is increased in most species, however hamsters primarily increase food hoarding. Food deprivation-induced increases in food hoarding by Siberian hamsters are mimicked by peripheral ghrelin and central AgRP injections. Because food deprivation stimulates ghrelin as well as AgRP synthesis/release, food deprivation-induced increases in hoarding may be mediated by melanocortin 3 or 4 receptor (MC3/4-R) antagonism via AgRP, the MC3/4-R inverse agonist. Therefore, we asked: Can a MC3/4-R agonist block food deprivation- or ghrelin-induced increases in foraging, food hoarding and food intake? This was accomplished by injecting melanotan II (MTII), a synthetic MC3/4-R agonist, into the 3rd ventricle in food deprived, fed or peripheral ghrelin injected hamsters and housed in a running wheel-based food delivery foraging system. Three foraging conditions were used: a) no running wheel access, non-contingent food, b) running wheel access, non-contingent food or c) a foraging requirement for food (10 revolutions/pellet). Food deprivation was a more potent stimulator of foraging and hoarding than ghrelin. Concurrent injections of MTII completely blocked food deprivation- and ghrelin-induced increases in food intake and attenuated, but did not always completely block, food deprivation- and ghrelin-induced increases in food hoarding. Collectively, these data suggest that the MC3/4-R are involved in ghrelin- and food deprivation-induced increases in food intake, but other neurochemical systems, such as previously demonstrated with neuropeptide Y, also are involved in increases in food hoarding as well as foraging.     

MTII attenuates ghrelin- and food deprivation-induced increases in food hoarding and food intake

Food deprivation triggers a constellation of physiological and behavioral changes including increases in peripherally-produced ghrelin and centrally-produced agouti-related protein (AgRP). Upon refeeding, food intake is increased in most species, however hamsters primarily increase food hoarding. Food deprivation-induced increases in food hoarding by Siberian hamsters are mimicked by peripheral ghrelin and central AgRP injections. Because food deprivation stimulates ghrelin as well as AgRP synthesis/release, food deprivation-induced increases in hoarding may be mediated by melanocortin 3 or 4 receptor (MC3/4-R) antagonism via AgRP, the MC3/4-R inverse agonist. Therefore, we asked: Can a MC3/4-R agonist block food deprivation- or ghrelin-induced increases in foraging, food hoarding and food intake? This was accomplished by injecting melanotan II (MTII), a synthetic MC3/4-R agonist, into the 3rd ventricle in food deprived, fed or peripheral ghrelin injected hamsters and housed in a running wheel-based food delivery foraging system. Three foraging conditions were used: a) no running wheel access, non-contingent food, b) running wheel access, non-contingent food or c) a foraging requirement for food (10 revolutions/pellet). Food deprivation was a more potent stimulator of foraging and hoarding than ghrelin. Concurrent injections of MTII completely blocked food deprivation- and ghrelin-induced increases in food intake and attenuated, but did not always completely block, food deprivation- and ghrelin-induced increases in food hoarding. Collectively, these data suggest that the MC3/4-R are involved in ghrelin- and food deprivation-induced increases in food intake, but other neurochemical systems, such as previously demonstrated with neuropeptide Y, also are involved in increases in food hoarding as well as foraging.     

Fat pad-specific effects of lipectomy on foraging, food hoarding, and food intake

Unlike most species, after food deprivation, Siberian hamsters increase foraging and food hoarding, two appetitive ingestive behaviors, but not food intake, a consummatory ingestive behavior. We previously demonstrated (Wood AD, Bartness TJ, Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol 272: R783-R792, 1997) that increases in food hoarding are triggered by directly decreasing body fat levels through partial surgical lipectomy; however, we did not test if lipectomy affected foraging, nor if the magnitude of the lipid deficit affected food hoard size. Therefore, we tested whether varying the size of the lipectomy-induced lipid deficit and/or foraging effort affected foraging, food hoarding, or food intake. This was accomplished by housing adult male Siberian hamsters in a foraging/hoarding system and removing (x) both epididymal white adipose tissue (EWATx) pads, both inguinal white adipose tissue (IWATx) pads, or both EWAT and IWAT pads (EWATx + IWATx) and measuring foraging, food hoarding, and food intake for 12 wk. The lipectomy-induced lipid deficit triggered different patterns of white adipose tissue mass compensation that varied with foraging effort. Foraging for food (10 wheel revolutions to earn a food pellet) abolished the EWATx-induced compensation in IWAT pad mass. The magnitude of the lipid deficit did not engender a proportional change in any of the appetitive or consummatory ingestive behaviors. EWATx caused the greatest increase in food hoarding compared with IWATx or EWATx + IWATx, when animals were required to forage for their food. Collectively, it appears that the magnitude of a lipid deficit does not affect appetitive or consummatory behaviors; rather, when energy (foraging) demands are increased, loss of specific (gonadal) fat pads can preferentially stimulate increases in food hoarding.     

Leptin inhibits food-deprivation-induced increases in food intake and food hoarding

Food deprivation stimulates foraging and hoarding and to a much lesser extent, food intake in Siberian hamsters. Leptin, the anorexigenic hormone secreted primarily from adipocytes, may act in the periphery, the brain, or both to inhibit these ingestive behaviors. Therefore, we tested whether leptin given either intracerebroventricularly or intraperitoneally, would block food deprivation-induced increases in food hoarding, foraging, and intake in animals with differing foraging requirements. Hamsters were trained in a running wheel-based food delivery foraging system coupled with simulated burrow housing. We determined the effects of food deprivation and several peripheral doses of leptin on plasma leptin concentrations. Hamsters were then food deprived for 48 h and given leptin (0, 10, 40, or 80 microg ip), and additional hamsters were food deprived for 48 h and given leptin (0, 1.25, 2.5, or 5.0 microg icv). Foraging, food intake, and hoarding were measured postinjection. Food deprivation stimulated food hoarding to a greater degree and duration than food intake. In animals with a foraging requirement, intracerebroventricular leptin almost completely blocked food deprivation-induced increased food hoarding and intake, but increased foraging. Peripheral leptin treatment was most effective in a sedentary control group, completely inhibiting food deprivation-induced increased food hoarding and intake at the two highest doses, and did not affect foraging at any dose. Thus, the ability of leptin to inhibit food deprivation-induced increases in ingestive behaviors differs based on foraging effort (energy expenditure) and the route of administration of leptin administration.     

Saline intake after shifts to water in hamsters and gerbils

In Experiment 1, hamsters and gerbils were given a 24-hr two-bottle test with saline and water for eight days before being placed on a water-only condition for the subsequent four days. On day 13 the saline bottle was returned to the animals and their intake of saline and water was monitored for another six days. Comparisons were made of the animals' intake of saline during the last two pre-withdrawal with that during the first two post-withdrawal days. Saline intake was enhanced in male but not in female gerbils following the 4-day withdrawal period. In contrast, male hamsters showed a decrement in their saline intake while female hamsters showed no significant change in these pre- and post-withdrawal measures. In Experiment 2, a between-groups design was used to test for differences between the saline intake of hamsters and gerbils exposed to the experimental (saline withdrawal) and control (no withdrawal) conditions. When tested with 0.45% or 2.0% saline solution, there was no significant difference between experimental and control hamsters. The results with male gerbils indicated a significant withdrawal effect when the animals were tested with 3.0% saline but not with 4.0% NaCl solution. The implications of these results for a behavioral taxonomy of “compensators” and “noncompensators” are discussed.     

Third ventricular coinjection of subthreshold doses of NPY and AgRP stimulate food hoarding and intake and neural activation

We previously demonstrated that 3rd ventricular (3V) neuropeptide Y (NPY) or agouti-related protein (AgRP) injection potently stimulates food foraging/hoarding/intake in Siberian hamsters. Because NPY and AgRP are highly colocalized in arcuate nucleus neurons in this and other species, we tested whether subthreshold doses of NPY and AgRP coinjected into the 3V stimulates food foraging, hoarding, and intake, and/or neural activation [c-Fos immunoreactivity (c-Fos-ir)] in hamsters housed in a foraging/hoarding apparatus. In the behavioral experiment, each hamster received four 3V treatments by using subthreshold doses of NPY and AgRP for all behaviors: 1) NPY, 2) AgRP, 3) NPY+AgRP, and 4) saline with a 7-day washout period between treatments. Food foraging, intake, and hoarding were measured 1, 2, 4, and 24 h and 2 and 3 days postinjection. Only when NPY and AgRP were coinjected was food intake and hoarding increased. After identical treatment in separate animals, c-Fos-ir was assessed at 90 min and 14 h postinjection, times when food intake (0-1 h) and hoarding (4-24 h) were uniquely stimulated. c-Fos-ir was increased in several hypothalamic nuclei previously shown to be involved in ingestive behaviors and the central nucleus of the amygdala (CeA), but only in NPY+AgRP-treated animals (90 min and 14 h: magno- and parvocellular regions of the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus and perifornical area; 14 h only: CeA and sub-zona incerta). These results suggest that NPY and AgRP interact to stimulate food hoarding and intake at distinct times, perhaps released as a cocktail naturally with food deprivation to stimulate these behaviors.     

Energetic challenges unmask the role of ovarian hormones in orchestrating ingestive and sex behaviors

Effects of ovarian hormones on sex and ingestive behavior are well studied, and yet, their role in diverting attention from food to sex has not been examined directly, possibly because these functions are masked under conditions of excessive food abundance typical of the laboratory. Female Syrian hamsters were either fed ad libitum or food-restricted to 75% of their ad libitum intake for 8 days and then tested every day of the estrous cycle for their preference for males versus food, food hoarding and food intake in an apparatus designed to mimic aspects of their natural habitat. The food-restricted, but not the fed females, varied significantly over the estrous cycle in appetitive behaviors, which included their preference for males versus food and in the amount of food hoarded, with low food hoarding and high male preference on the night of ovulation. In contrast, there were no significant differences between restricted and ad libitum-fed females in the consummatory behaviors, namely, food intake or lordosis duration. In ovariectomized females, estradiol plus progesterone treatment delayed food restriction-stimulated hoarding and hastened feeding-inhibited hoarding without affecting food intake or lordosis duration. In summary, energy restriction and the presence of males unmasked an effect that was obscured in the normal laboratory conditions characterized by isolation and an over abundance of readily available food. These results are consistent with the idea that ovarian hormones orchestrate appetites for food and sex to optimize reproductive success under fluctuating energetic conditions.     

Experimentally induced sickness decreases food intake, but not hoarding, in Siberian hamsters (Phodopus sungorus)

A wide range of physiological and behavioral alterations occur in response to sickness. Sickness behaviors, rather than incidental by-products or side-effects of acute illness, serve as adaptive functional responses that allow animals to cope with a pathogenic challenge. Among the more salient sickness behaviors is a reduction in food intake; virtually all sick animals display marked decreases in this behavior. Food intake, however, is only one component of the food-related behavioral repertoire. For many mammalian species, food hoarding represents a substantial portion of the total energetic budget. Here we tested the effects of experimental sickness on food hoarding and food intake in a naturally food hoarding species, Siberian hamsters (Phodopus sungorus). Adult male and female hamsters received injections of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) to induce sickness or control injections. LPS-induced sickness resulted in a marked decrease in food intake in both males and females, but did not decrease hoarding in either sex. These results support previous findings suggesting that food hoarding and food intake appear to be differentially regulated at the physiological level.     

NPY Y1 receptor is involved in ghrelin- and fasting-induced increases in foraging, food hoarding, and food intake

Fasting triggers a constellation of physiological and behavioral changes, including increases in peripherally produced ghrelin and centrally produced hypothalamic neuropeptide Y (NPY). Refeeding stimulates food intake in most species; however, hamsters primarily increase foraging and food hoarding with smaller increases in food intake. Fasting-induced increases in foraging and food hoarding in Siberian hamsters are mimicked by peripheral ghrelin, central NPY, and NPY Y1 receptor agonist injections. Because fasting stimulates ghrelin and subsequently NPY synthesis/release, it may be that fasting-induced increased hoarding is mediated by NPY Y1 receptor activation. Therefore, we asked: Can an Y1 receptor antagonist block fasting- or ghrelin-induced increases in foraging, food hoarding, and food intake? This was accomplished by injecting the NPY Y1 receptor antagonist 1229U91 intracerebroventricularly in hamsters fasted, fed, or given peripheral ghrelin injections and housed in a running wheel-based food delivery foraging system coupled with simulated-burrow housing. Three foraging conditions were used: 1) no running wheel access, free food, 2) running wheel access, free food, or 3) foraging requirement (10 revolutions/pellet) for food. Fasting was a more potent stimulator of foraging and food hoarding than ghrelin. Concurrent injections of 1229U91 completely blocked fasting- and ghrelin-induced increased foraging and food intake and attenuated, but did not always completely block, fasting- and ghrelin-induced increases in food hoarding. Collectively, these data suggest that the NPY Y1 receptor is important for the effects of ghrelin- and fasting-induced increases in foraging and food intake, but other NPY receptors and/or other neurochemical systems are involved in increases in food hoarding.     

PYY(3-36) into the arcuate nucleus inhibits food deprivation-induced increases in food hoarding and intake

Central administration of neuropeptide Y (NPY) increases food intake in laboratory rats and mice, as well as food foraging and hoarding in Siberian hamsters. The NPY-Y1 and Y5 receptors (Rs) within the hypothalamus appear sufficient to account for these increases in ingestive behaviors. Stimulation of NPY-Y2Rs in the Arcuate nucleus (Arc) has an anorexigenic effect as shown by central or peripheral administration of its natural ligand peptide YY (3-36) and pharmacological NPY-Y2R antagonism by BIIE0246 increases food intake. Both effects on food intake by NPY-Y2R agonism and antagonism are relatively short-lived lasting ∼4 h. The role of NPY-Y2Rs in appetitive ingestive behaviors (food foraging/hoarding) is untested, however. Therefore, Siberians hamsters, a natural food hoarder, were housed in a semi-natural burrow/foraging system that had (a) foraging requirement (10 revolutions/pellet), no free food (true foraging group), (b) no running wheel access, free food (general malaise control) or (c) running wheel access, free food (exercise control). We microinjected BIIE0246 (antagonist) and PYY_(3-36) (agonist) into the Arc to test the role of NPY-Y2Rs there on ingestive behaviors. Food foraging, hoarding, and intake were not affected by Arc BIIE0246 microinjection in fed hamsters 1, 2, 4, and 24 h post injection. Stimulation of NPY-Y2Rs by PYY_(3-36) inhibited food intake at 0–1 and 1–2 h and food hoarding at 1–2 h without causing general malaise or affecting foraging. Collectively, these results implicate a sufficiency, but not necessity, of the Arc NPY-Y2R in the inhibition of food intake and food hoarding by Siberian hamsters.     

Role of NPY and its receptor subtypes in foraging, food hoarding, and food intake by Siberian hamsters

Fasting has widespread physiological and behavioral effects such as increases in arcuate nucleus neuropeptide Y (NPY) gene expression in rodents, including Siberian hamsters. Fasting also stimulates foraging and food hoarding (appetitive ingestive behaviors) by Siberian hamsters but does relatively little to change food intake (consummatory ingestive behavior). Therefore, we tested the effects of third ventricular NPY Y1 ([Pro(34)]NPY) or Y5 ([D-Trp(34)]NPY) receptor agonists on these ingestive behaviors using a wheel running-based food delivery system coupled with simulated burrow housing. Siberian hamsters had 1) no running wheel access and free food, 2) running wheel access and free food, or 3) foraging requirements (10 or 50 revolutions/pellet). NPY (1.76 nmol) stimulated food intake only during the first 4 h postinjection ( approximately 200-1,000%) and mostly in hamsters with a foraging requirement. The Y1 receptor agonist markedly increased food hoarding (250-1,000%), increased foraging as well as wheel running per se, and had relatively little effect on food intake (<250%). Unlike NPY, the Y5 agonist significantly increased food intake, especially in foraging animals ( approximately 225-800%), marginally increased food hoarding (250-500%), and stimulated foraging and wheel running 4-24 h postinjection, with the distribution of earned pellets favoring eating versus hoarding across time. Across treatments, food hoarding predominated early postinjection, whereas food intake tended to do so later. Collectively, NPY stimulated both appetitive and consummatory ingestive behaviors in Siberian hamsters involving Y1/Y5 receptors, with food hoarding and foraging/wheel running (appetitive) more involved with Y1 receptors and food intake (consummatory) with Y5 receptors.     

Agouti-related protein increases food hoarding more than food intake in Siberian hamsters

Agouti-related protein (AgRP), an endogenous melanocortin 3/4 receptor antagonist, appears to play an important role in the control of food intake and energy balance because exogenous administration in rats and overexpression in mice result in hyperphagia and body mass gain. Furthermore, arcuate nucleus AgRP mRNA is increased with fasting in laboratory rats and mice and is decreased with refeeding. In Siberian hamsters, fasting also increases arcuate nucleus AgRP mRNA, but these animals increase food hoarding, rather than food intake with refeeding. Therefore, we tested whether exogenous AgRP increased food hoarding in this species. Hamsters were trained in a hoarding/foraging apparatus to run a programmed number of wheel revolutions to earn food pellets. Four doses of AgRP-(83-132) or vehicle were injected into the third ventricle at the beginning of the dark phase, and food hoarding, food intake, and foraging were measured at various time points subsequently. Overall, food hoarding was stimulated as much as 10 times more than food intake, and both responses occurred as early as 1 h after injection. Food hoarding was increased the greatest at the lowest dose (0.1 nmol), whereas food intake was increased the greatest at the second lowest dose (1 nmol). Food intake and especially food hoarding were increased up to seven days after the AgRP injections. Foraging was increased at all AgRP doses except the highest dose (100 nmol). These results suggest that AgRP triggers the search for food in this species, and once they find it, hoarding predominates over eating.     

Variation of food hoarding with the estrous cycle of Syrian golden hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus)

Food hoarding was assessed in 16 adult female Syrian golden hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus) across the stages of the estrous cycle. Results show that food hoarding is depressed on the day of behavioral estrus but does not vary among the other days of the cycle. Decreases in food hoarding appear to be correlated with high levels of estrogen and progesterone. The data are consistent with the hypothesis that food hoarding, food intake, and weight gain are controlled either by the same mechanism or by similar mechanisms in some female rodents.     

长爪沙鼠的贮食行为与其个性和代谢水平之间的关系

贮食行为是动物应对食物资源的季节性和不可预测性变化的一种适应性生存策略。在群居性贮食动物中,同胎个体常表现出不同的贮食水平,而关于贮食行为与动物的个性和代谢水平之间的关系尚缺乏研究。本文以长爪沙鼠（Meriones unguiculatus）为对象,在筛选出具有高贮食和低贮食行为特征个体的基础上,比较了两组动物的个性特征（勇敢行为和探索能力）、静止代谢率、血清甲状腺激素水平、贮食期间的运动距离和贮食后的平均每日代谢率等。结果发现：高、低贮食长爪沙鼠的数量各占49%（22/45）和47%（21/45）,两组动物之间的个性特征、静止代谢率和血清甲状腺激素均没有显著差异。在贮食期间高贮食个体的运动距离显著高于低贮食个体,且在停止贮食后,高贮食个体的平均每日代谢率显著低于低贮食个体。这些结果表明,在室内条件下,长爪沙鼠的贮食量高低与个性和静止代谢率无关,但高贮食个体会在停止贮食后降低其总能量消耗,以补偿贮食过程中的高能量代价。     

Food deprivation and leptin prioritize ingestive and sex behavior without affecting estrous cycles in Syrian hamsters

Energy consumption is critical for the energetically expensive processes related to reproduction, and thus, mechanisms that increase ingestive behavior are directly linked to reproductive success. Similarly, the mechanisms that inhibit hunger and ingestive behavior might be most adaptive when these mechanisms cause individuals to stop foraging, hoarding and eating in order to find and court potential mates. In the laboratory, ingestive behaviors are typically studied separately from reproductive behaviors even though it is likely that these behaviors evolved under conditions in which both food and mates were available. We examined the choice between paracopulatory and ingestive behaviors in a semi-natural environment in which both food and potential mates were available. Intact female Syrian hamsters showed a high preference for males on days 3 and 4 (day 4 being the day of ovulation and estrous behavior), and a 48-h period of food deprivation significantly decreased preference for sex and increased preference for eating and food hoarding on day 3 in 89% of the hamsters, although none became anestrous. The same period of food deprivation significantly decreased the level of vaginal marking without significant effects on plasma estradiol concentrations. Next, hamsters were either food deprived (FD) or fed ad libitum, and half of each group was treated with vehicle or the adipocyte hormone leptin. The percentage of females with a low preference for sex was significantly greater in the FD compared to the ad libitum-fed groups, and leptin treatment prevented this effect. Metabolic fuels, possibly acting through leptin and other hormones, might influence sensitivity to estradiol or enhance the downstream effects of estradiol, thereby increasing motivation for sex and decreasing the relative motivation to forage, hoard and eat food.