Summary
A group of sexually active male European hamsters were raised either in short-photoperiod conditions (SP; LD 8∶16) or in long-photoperiod conditions (LP; LD 16∶8) from their capture at the end of the hibernation period. Another group of hamsters was castrated in April and gonadectomized animals were maintained in SP and cold (7 °C) or in a succession of SP and LP plus cold. Another group, castrated in May or in September and raised in LP conditions, was transferred in September to SP conditions and cold.
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1.
Normal hamsters raised in continuous SP or LP apparently did not show signs of rhythmic behavior, except possibly in gonadal activity.
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2.
Body weight increased continuously, plasma testosterone levels oscillated between 1.5 and 2.5 ng/ml, and animals raised in SP and in cold did not enter hibernation.
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3.
Similar results were also found in castrated animals kept in SP conditions and cold.
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4.
The sequence LP-SP induced a decrease in food intake and body weight and a decrease in plasma testosterone levels and triggered entry into hibernation in both intact and castrated animals.
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5.
After 6 months continuously in SP and with exposure to cold spontaneous recrudescence in food intake and body weight occurred and hibernation ended in both intact and castrated animals.
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6.
In normal animals a spontaneous increase in plasma testosterone levels was observed.
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7.
In both normal and gonadectomized animals the phase of refractoriness could be broken by exposure to LP conditions.
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8.
The critical photoperiod lies between 15 and 15.5 h.
These results demonstrate that the European hamster is a photoperiodic species. Three parameters are under the control of the photoperiod: energy balance, hibernation, and gonadal function. These experiments provide evidence that in addition to having a gonadal effect the photoperiod can act directly on unknown cerebral structures involved in body weight regulation and hibernation.
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Abbreviations
- LD :
-
light-dark
- LP :
-
long photoperiod
- RIA :
-
radioimmunoassay
- SP :
-
short photoperiod
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Canguilhem, B., Vaultier, J.P., Pévet, P. et al. Photoperiodic regulation of body mass, food intake, hibernation, and reproduction in intact and castrated male European hamsters,Cricetus cricetus . J. Comp. Physiol. 163, 549–557 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00604908
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00604908