Circadian rhythm of corticosterone secretion in the neonatal rabbit

Maternal care in the rabbit is restricted to a single 3- to 5-min period of nursing each day. One to three hours prior to the arrival of the mother, pups exhibit anticipatory behavioral arousal and elevation of core body temperature. In rodents, the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis is quiescent and levels of the adrenal hormone, corticosterone (CORT), are stable and extremely low during the first days of life, which are known collectively as the stress-hyporesponsive period (SHRP). It has been proposed that the rabbit also has an SHRP. However, we decided to examine CORT changes associated with the daily nursing bout, since behavioral arousal, core body temperature, and CORT are elevated prior to the onset of feeding in many other species. We scheduled the nursing bout at 1000 h and analyzed CORT concentration using RIA in pups sampled at various intervals after suckling. CORT levels showed a circadian variation that peaked at the time of the daily nursing bout. After nursing, values steadily decreased to a nadir at 2200 h and then rose again in advance of the next scheduled nursing. The three-fold difference between the highest (1000 h) and the lowest (2200 h) CORT values suggests that either the SHRP does not exist in rabbit pups or else it has properties that differ from those described for rodents. Unlike rodents, rabbit pups show a circadian secretion of CORT synchronized to the scheduled nursing bout.