Aggressive and nonaggressive personalities differ in oxidative status in selected lines

Copyright Other than for strictly personal use, it is not permitted to download or to forward/distribute the text or part of it without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), unless the work is under an open content license (like Creative Commons). Take-down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Downloaded from the University of Groningen/UMCG research database (Pure): http://www.rug.nl/research/portal. For technical reasons the number of authors shown on this cover page is limited to 10 maximum. Physiology Aggressive and non-aggressive personalities differ in oxidative status in selected lines of mice (Mus musculus) Mice selected for aggression and coping (long attack latency (LAL), reactive coping strategy; short attack latency (SAL), pro-active coping strategy) are a useful model for studying the physiological background of animal personalities. These mice also show a differential stress responsiveness, especially in terms of hypo-thalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis reactivity, to various challenges. Since the stress response can increase the production of reactive oxygen species, we predicted that the basic oxidative status of the lines could differ. We found that LAL showed higher serum antioxidant capacity (OXY) than SAL, while no differences emerged for reactive oxygen metabolites (ROMs) or the balance between ROMs and OXY, reflecting oxidative stress. Moreover, the lines showed inverse relationships between ROMs or OXY and body mass corrected for age. The results indicate that variation in oxidative status is heritable and linked to personality. This suggests that different animal personalities may be accompanied by differences in oxidative status, which may predict differences in longevity. 1. INTRODUCTION Metabolism produces pro-oxidant compounds that damage biomolecules. To cope with pro-oxidants, the body uses antioxidants and mechanisms that are able to repair or remove damaged molecules. When the redox status, i.e. the balance between pro-oxidants and antioxidants, is shifted towards more oxidative conditions, oxidative stress (OS) arises (Finkel & Holbrook 2000). The accumulation of degenerative changes caused by OS to biomolecules may lead to