Effects of incisor-cutting on muricidal behavior induced by olfactory bulbectomy in rats

Muricidal behavior in rats is composed of two main components, attacking and killing performance. Since a large number of mice could be killed by rats during behavioral experiments, research has been limited in the past decade possibly because of ethical considerations. In preliminary studies, we found that the rat incisors play a key role in muricidal behavior in rats, so, in the present study, we cut off the incisors and assessed the following parameters of muricidal behavior: attack latency, first attack site, lethal attack site, attack frequency, total attack duration and mean attack duration. If after incisor-cutting (IC) rats still tried to demonstrate muricidal activity, but failed to kill the mouse, this would be an ideal model for studying the mechanisms of muricidal behavior. Since muricide can be induced in rats by olfactory bulbectomy (OBX), young adult male Wistar rats with OBX displaying muricidal behavior were tested for muricidal activity 4 h after IC, then every 24 h for 3 days. At 4 and 28 h after IC, only 9% and 36% of rats killed mice, but these values rose to 73% and 82% 52 and 76 h after IC, respectively. At 4, 28 and 52 h after IC, there was no significant difference in attack latency, first attack site, lethal attack site or mean attack duration between IC-treated rats (both killers and nonkillers) and sham-operated controls, while the attack frequency was obviously increased in IC nonkiller rats, and a significantly longer total attack duration was seen in both IC killer and nonkiller rats compared to controls. Since IC treatment increases attack frequency and prolongs the total attack duration without affecting other basic components of muricidal behavior in rats, these results suggest that the killer rats treated with IC may provide a suitable model for research on muricidal behavior.