Persistence of infradian body weight cycles in castrated dormice (Glis glis)

Summary Male dormice were castrated at 2 phases of their infradian body weight cycles. No consistent changes were found in cycle period, amplitude, or absolute weights of the dormice following castration. Unlike other mammals, body weights of dormice appear unaffected by castration. Although both body weight and reproductive condition vary on an infradian basis, the changes in body weight appear to be programmed independently from changes in gonadal function.Acknowledgments. I would like to thank R. Melnyk, N. Mrosovsky, and J. D. Hallonquist for much helpful criticism and K. Lang and J. Kenyon for invaluable technical help. Research support was provided by a National Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada grant to N. Mrosovsky.