Vol. 41 No. 2, 2002

Chemical Identification and Bioactivity of Rat (Rattus rattus) Urinary Compounds

Ramasamy Selvaraj and Govindaraju Archunan*

Department of Animal Science, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli 620 024, India

Ramasamy Selvaraj and Govindaraju Archunan (2002) House rat urine was analyzed to identify the chemical compounds by gas chromatography-linked mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Male rat urine contained ethanol,2-(octylthio) (I), 1,3,5 triazone-2,4-diamine (II), and 1-chlorodecane (III). Similarly, female urine (during estrus) had the 3 compounds hydroperoxide (IV), 1-nitropentane (V), and 4-azidoheptane (VI). The bioactivity of these identified compounds were assayed using a Y-maze apparatus. Odor preference test revealed that the identified compounds show opposite-sex as well as same-sex attraction. Male urinary compounds such as ethanol,2-(octylthio) (I) and 1-chlorodecane (III) exhibited an attraction to the opposite sex, whereas the compound 1,3,5 triazone-2,4-diamine (II) was shown to attract the same sex. However, the compounds hydroperoxide and 4-azidoheptane were found to show maximum response in the attraction of the opposite sex. By contrast, the compound 1-nitropentane attracted both sexes, with a maximum response to the opposite sex. The results indicate that the compounds identified in the male urine are sex specific. The present investigations also show that rat urine contains a mixture of volatile compounds whose bioactivities differ from compound to compound.

Key words: Urine, Pheromone, Chemical characterization, Social behavior, Rat.

*Correspondence: E-mail : garchu@bdu.ernet.in