The body temperature response of two inbred strains of mice to handling, saline and amphetamine

Abstract

The changes in body temperature resulting from the handling, saline and amphetamine treatments of two inbred strains of mice, C3H/HeLac and BALB/c/Lac, have been recorded. The effects of strain, sex and aggregation on the response were studied at two environmental temperatures. The difference between the sexes for the effect of aggregation on the temperature response to handling 20 min after treatment was significant for both strains at room temperature. For BALB mice the effect was greater for females than males, and for C3H mice the effect was greater for males, thus showing a strong genetic influence. Because the response to saline was correlated with that to handling, and in order to minimize both the effects of handling and the injection of fluid, the response to saline was used as control when studying the response to amphetamine. The effects of strain and sex as previously found for amphetamine were confirmed. Whereas other workers always found an increase in the response when the mice were aggregated, we found that at room temperature 20 min after treatment, aggregation reduced the response for C3H mice particularly when compared with the control. The difference evident between the strains again emphasizes the genetic influence.