Low intermale aggression associated with small submandibular and preputial glands in goldthioglucose-obese mice.

Goldthioglucose (GTG)-induced obese mice exhibited lower intermale aggression against an unfamiliar mouse, and had smaller submandibular and preputial glands than lean controls. The GTG-treated mice, which were pair-grown with control mice, also showed the same abnormalities. Therefore, obesity itself was not the cause of these abnormalities. One-h cohabitation with an unfamiliar mouse reduced the number of granules in the granular convoluted tubules of the submandibular glands of control mice. This histological change was not observed in the GTG-obese glands. These results suggest that the absence of typical intraspecific social behavior in male GTG-obese mice was associated with the failure to release a factor or factors from the submandibular glands.