TY - JOUR
T1 - Anogenital distance measured at weaning is correlated with measures of blood chemistry and behaviors in 450-day-old female mice
AU - Kerin, Tara K.
AU - Vogler, George P.
AU - Blizard, David A.
AU - Stout, Joseph T.
AU - McClearn, Gerald E.
AU - Vandenbergh, David J.
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors would like to thank Sue Lingenfelter and fellow lab members for their insight and assistance in this research study. Dr. Z. Shihabi, Department of Pathology, Wake Forest University Medical Center performed the serum chemistry analysis. We would also like to thank an anonymous reviewer for helpful comments. This study was funded by the National Institute on Aging (P01 AG14731) and training funds for TKK (T32 AG00276).
PY - 2003/4
Y1 - 2003/4
N2 - In female mice, anogenital distance (AGD), measured at weaning, provides an estimate of uterine exposure to testosterone from flanking male mouse littermates. A variant of the anogenital distance index (AGDI) that uses the residual value of AGD after accounting for the effect of weight by regression (AGDWTRES) was measured at weaning in F2 female mice from a C57BL/6J x DBA2/J cross. AGDWTRES was used to examine the relationship between intrauterine environment and blood chemistry variables and activity-related behaviors when the females were 450 days old. Longer AGDWTRES values correlated with lower levels of calcium, cholesterol, phosphorus, iron, and protein, which is opposite to the expected direction, based on underlying sex differences for blood chemistry. A positive correlation was found between AGDWTRES and two activity-related measures (the number of rears in a test of exploration, and the number of sectors of a rod that are entered by the mouse). These findings suggest that in utero proximity to males, as indexed by AGDWTRES, may have effects on fundamental aspects of blood chemistry and behavior that extend well into mouse middle age, and could play an important role in health.
AB - In female mice, anogenital distance (AGD), measured at weaning, provides an estimate of uterine exposure to testosterone from flanking male mouse littermates. A variant of the anogenital distance index (AGDI) that uses the residual value of AGD after accounting for the effect of weight by regression (AGDWTRES) was measured at weaning in F2 female mice from a C57BL/6J x DBA2/J cross. AGDWTRES was used to examine the relationship between intrauterine environment and blood chemistry variables and activity-related behaviors when the females were 450 days old. Longer AGDWTRES values correlated with lower levels of calcium, cholesterol, phosphorus, iron, and protein, which is opposite to the expected direction, based on underlying sex differences for blood chemistry. A positive correlation was found between AGDWTRES and two activity-related measures (the number of rears in a test of exploration, and the number of sectors of a rod that are entered by the mouse). These findings suggest that in utero proximity to males, as indexed by AGDWTRES, may have effects on fundamental aspects of blood chemistry and behavior that extend well into mouse middle age, and could play an important role in health.
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U2 - 10.1016/S0031-9384(03)00054-4
DO - 10.1016/S0031-9384(03)00054-4
M3 - Article
C2 - 12782225
AN - SCOPUS:0037680357
SN - 0031-9384
VL - 78
SP - 697
EP - 702
JO - Physiology and Behavior
JF - Physiology and Behavior
IS - 4-5
ER -