Preputial glands, dominance and aggressiveness, in mice

Abstract

The preputial glands are androgen-dependent and apparently used in pheromonal signalling in rats and mice. With light and electron microscopy (LM and EM) these glands from socially dominant and socially subordinated members of pairs of male laboratory ‘TO’ strain mice were compared with those from individually-housed counterparts. The glands of both dominant and individually housed animals were well-developed and actively secreting having acini at different stages of maturation with numerous normal cytoplasmic organelles and healthy oval-shaped nuclei. The glands from subordinated animals were less developed, had fewer, smaller lipid droplets and fewer cellular organelles; the nuclei were shrunken and lobulated; and the cells often contained autophagic vacuoles, which are also found in castrated mice. The data suggest that the reduced gonadal function typical of subordinated mice compared with the other two categories exprcsses itself in preputial structure and function. The aggressiveness induced by ‘isolation’ cannot be attributed simply to the detrimental effects of ‘social deprivation’, for this behaviour is also a feature of social dominants. © 1983 Taylor & FrancisGroup, LLC.