Karyometric Studies on the Pinealocytes of Male Mice kept under Density Stress

Abstract

Under certain conditions the pineal function is antigonadotropic. Distinct social environment may act repressively on the gonads. However, the studies concerning living conditions, especially that of stress, as far as they refer to the endocrine background, are primarily related to the pituitary and the adrenal system. The gonadal state and activity in mice can be easily and reproducibly repressed by increasing the population density. We therefore examined the pinealocytes of male mice kept under different conditions of population density. The method chosen for this tentative study is karyometry. The antigonadotropic effect must have different non-pineal causes. On the other hand, the lowered severity of bite injuries indicates lowered fighting activity. This refers once more to the bearing of the pineal on aggressive behavior and vice versa.