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First published online November 19, 2007
Journal of Experimental Biology 210, 4233-4243 (2007)
Published by The Company of Biologists 2007
doi: 10.1242/jeb.009779

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Limits to sustained energy intake. X. Effects of fur removal on reproductive performance in laboratory mice

Elbieta Król^*, Michelle Murphy and John R. Speakman

School of Biological Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen Centre for Energy Regulation and Obesity (ACERO), Aberdeen, AB24 2TZ, UK

View larger version (136K): [in this window] [in a new window]   Fig. 1. Lactating MF1 mouse with dorsal fur shaved off to increase heat loss capacity.

View larger version (16K): [in this window] [in a new window]   Fig. 2. Body mass (A) and food intake (B) of shaved (N=20) and unshaved control (N=20) mice during lactation. Double-headed arrows indicate period when dorsal fur was removed to increase heat loss capacity (days 6–18 of lactation). Body mass (A) and food intake (C) of non-reproductive shaved (N=8) and unshaved control (N=8) mice are also shown. *Days with significant differences between shaved and control mice of the same reproductive status. Values are means ± 1 s.d. Filled symbols, shaved mice; open symbols, unshaved control mice; circles, lactating mice; squares, non-reproductive mice.

View larger version (5K): [in this window] [in a new window]   Fig. 3. Relationship between daily energy expenditure (DEE) and metabolizable energy intake (MEI) in non-reproductive shaved (filled squares; N=8) and unshaved control (open squares; N=8) mice. The line of equality is shown.

View larger version (13K): [in this window] [in a new window]   Fig. 4. Milk energy output (MEO) of shaved (filled circles; N=20) and unshaved control (open circles; N=20) mice plotted against maternal body mass (A), litter size (B) and litter growth (C). Maternal body mass refers to day 15 of lactation. Litter growth is defined as the difference between litter mass on day 18 and day 6 of lactation. Only the correlation between MEO and litter growth is significant (for statistical details, see Results). The fitted line represents reduced major axis regression for the pooled data (N=40), described by y=58.9+2.4x.

View larger version (10K): [in this window] [in a new window]   Fig. 5. Litter mass (A) and pup body mass (B) of shaved (filled circles; N=20) and unshaved control (open circles; N=20) mothers. Double-headed arrows indicate period when mothers had dorsal fur shaved off to increase heat loss capacity (days 6–18). *Days with significant differences between offspring raised by shaved and control mice. Values are means ± 1 s.d.

View larger version (13K): [in this window] [in a new window]   Fig. 6. Pup dry mass content (A), gross energy content of pup dry mass (B) and gross energy content of pup live mass (C) plotted against pup body mass. Values are means for litters raised by shaved (filled circles; N=8) and unshaved control (open circles; N=9) mothers. All correlations are significant (for statistical details, see Results). The fitted lines represent reduced major axis regressions for the pooled data (N=17), described by y=19.0+1.2x (A), y=19.8+0.5x (B) and y=3.3+0.4x (C).