The impact of varying food availability on health and welfare in mice: Testing the Match-Mismatch hypothesis

Abstract

During early phases of life, an organism's phenotype can be shaped by the environmental conditions which it experiences. If the conditions change subsequently, the mismatch between the environment in early and later life could have negative effects on the individual's health and welfare. The aim of this study was to systematically test the predictions of this Match-Mismatch hypothesis in laboratory mice. Therefore, female C57BL/6 J mice were exposed to matching or mismatching combinations of low and high food availability in adolescence and early adulthood. A comprehensive analysis of various physiological and behavioral parameters was conducted. No indication of a mismatch effect was found, which might be attributed to the specific ecology of mice. Alternatively, food availability might cause a shaping of the phenotype only during the prenatal or early postnatal development. However, various effects of low vs high food availability were found regarding the individuals’ physiology and, to a small extent, their behavior. Low food availability caused higher concentrations of fecal corticosterone metabolites, as well as higher liver and lower spleen weights, suggesting an adaptation of the metabolism to this situation.