The role of adrenoreceptors in control of stereotyped oral behavior in restricted-fed fowls.

Effects on environmentally induced oral stereotypies (object pecking and drinker-directed activity) of preferential antagonists and agonists of adrenoreceptor subtypes were examined in individually caged broiler breeder fowls subjected to chronic food restriction. Three drugs in each category were injected intravenously at three doses, and their effects compared with a saline control treatment. With the antagonists, object pecking was suppressed more by prazosin (alpha 1) and propranolol (beta) than by yohimbine (alpha 2), while drinker-directed activity showed delayed stimulation with yohimbine and propranolol. With the agonists, drinker-directed activity was suppressed more by clonidine (alpha 2) than by isoproterenol (beta) and phenylephrine (alpha 1), while object pecking was inhibited by the high doses of clonidine and isoproterenol but showed delayed stimulation with the low dose of clonidine and (nonsignificantly) the high dose of phenylephrine. Initial suppression of both oral stereotypies by the high doses of yohimbine and isoproterenol, and high and medium doses of clonidine, may have been due to sedation, because in those instances it coincided with increased sitting, an activity not normally seen. Increased standing with clonidine and the medium dose of yohimbine may also reflect sedation. When there were no significant increases in sitting or standing to indicate sedation, responses of both stereotypies were essentially the same with all three adrenoreceptor subtypes; i.e., object pecking was inhibited by the antagonist but not the agonist, while drinker-directed activity was inhibited by the agonist but not the antagonist. It is concluded that alpha 1, alpha 2, and beta adrenoreceptors are all implicated in expression of these stereotypes, and that the two activities may be differentially controlled.