Strain variation in immune response and behavior following the death of cage cohorts

Strain differences in both immune function and behavior were observed following exposure of mice to the death of cage-cohorts. AKR/J, BALB/cN, and C3H/HeJ mice were exposed to a dead cohort for two hours at 48 hour intervals for 30 days. During this two hour period, AKR/J mice displayed intense fighting and mounting behavior. In addition, these mice attacked, cannibalized, and buried carcasses. Neither C3H/HeJ nor BALB/cN mice exhibited the complete repertoire of behaviors directed at either carcasses or cage-cohorts observed in AKR/J mice. After 15 exposures to the death of cage-cohorts, allogeneic cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) response was suppressed in AKR/J mice, but was enhanced or unchanged in C3H/HeJ and BALB/cN mice, respectively. Other immune parameters including natural killer (NK) cell activity, and lipopolysaccharide-stimulated B cell proliferation were unchanged in AKR/J mice but increased in BALB/cN mice exposed to the death of cage-cohorts for thirty days. These results suggest: 1) that both suppression of the CTL response and behaviors indicative of defensive burying in AKR/J mice may specifically be due to the loss of cage-cohorts, since they were not observed following exposure of these mice to the death of contraspecific animals; and 2) that both the behavioral repertoire and immune responses following exposure to the death of cage-cohorts may be strain dependent. This strain dependence may reflect differences in the ability to cope with the intermittent presentation of a stressor, and may explain, at least in part, variability in stress-induced changes in immune functions.