The application of nuclear magnetic resonance-based metabonomics to the dominant-submissive rat behavioral model

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) methods were used to study whether there are differences in the urine content between behaviorally distinct groups of rats: dominant and submissive. The dominant-submissive relationships (DSRs) were established in rat pairs competing for access to the feeder filled with sweetened milk. Dominant rats spend significantly longer amounts of time at the feeder than do their submissive partners. During a 2-week period, rats were tested for the DSR. At the end of the second week, behavioral groups of rats were selected and urine was collected during a 3.5-h time period. Principal component analysis revealed a metabolite from milk sugar, galactose, as a discriminating factor between rats classified as dominant and those classified as submissive. Measurements of galactose showed that the amount present in the urine correlated with the time spent in the feeder zone, thereby supporting the time criterion established for the DSR model.