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HARUTA Nanami (2nd-year master’s student) of the Laboratory of Animal Physiology, Life Sciences Program, Graduate School of Agriculture (Professor NAKAMURA Takahiro), received the Outstanding Presentation Award at the 31st Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society for Chronobiology, held at the Toyama International Conference Center (Toyama City) on November 16 (Sat.) and 17 (Sun.), 2024.

Presenters: Nanami Haruta, Mitsuki Umino, Takahiro J. Nakamura
Title: Estrous cyclicity and photoperiodic response in the Syrian hamster
Research content: Hamsters, which are used as pets and laboratory animals, have an estrous cycle that lasts four to five days. However, details of the estrous cycle characteristics and photoperiodic response (a response related to day length) were not known. This study investigated the regression of the estrous cycle in female Syrian hamsters under long-day and short-day conditions, as well as the mating rate under long-day conditions.

As a result, this study found that female Syrian hamsters show an increase in the regression of the estrous cycle under long-day conditions, and that the mating success rate increased during the proestrus stage when wheel-running activity is enhanced.
This research, which has enabled us to describe the characteristics of the female reproductive function in hamsters, is expected to be useful for the development of many studies, such as hibernation research using hamsters.