Abstract: The effects of anthropogenic noise pollution on animals and human beings are receiving more and more concern, yet little literature is available about the effects of traffic noise on human and mammals at either behavioral and physiological levels. The present work investigated the effects of road-traffic noise in Beijing on anxiety behavior, haematological and stress parameters of the golden hamster Mesocricetus auratus. We individually and continuously exposed 14 adult male hamsters (7:7 = experimental: control group) to playbacks of digital audio recordings (road traffic noise or laboratory background noise) for 1 hour by a speaker (30W) next to the cage at standardized pressure levels (SPL), measured in decibels (dB). The traffic noise recordings were.collected at four points along the 2nd and 3rd ring roads of Beijing one week prior to the exposure, and the laboratory background noise recordings were recorded on the day of the test. The average traffic noise level was 80±10 dB SPL, and laboratory background noise was 50±4 dB SPL. We then tested and examined the anxiety behaviors of each hamster from the two groups in an open field right after the noise exposure. Finally all subjects were sacrificed to sample blood. Haematological parameters, serum cortisol level, ALT, AST, SOD, CAT, GSH-Px, TAOC, MDA and lysozyme activity were measured. The results show that no significant differences were found in anxiety behaviors of hamsters from the two groups. Blood platelet level of the experimental group decreased remarkably compared with that of the control group (P=0.044), while there was no obvious difference for other haematological parameters between the two groups. Stress responses did not vary much between the two groups, except GSH-Px activity, which was extremely decreased in the road noise treatment group (P < 0.001). Serum lysozyme level of the experimental group was also lower than that of the control (P = 0.051). The results indicate that 1 hour exposure to road traffic noise in Beijing has impaired some of the physiological functions of the golden hamster, albeit there is no obvious influence on anxiety behavior.

Key words: Road traffic noise, Mesocricetus auratus, anxiety behavior, Hemogram, stress

摘要： 人类活动产生的噪声污染对动物和人类的影响正受到日益增多的关注。本文以雄性成年金色中仓鼠为实验动物模型，探讨了北京市主干道交通噪声对其焦虑行为及血象、应激生理的影响。分别以北京主干道噪声（80±10 dB SPL）暴露为实验组，实验室环境噪声（50±4 dB SPL）暴露为对照组，噪声处理动物1小时后进行旷场行为学测试，然后取血对比观测两组鼠血液学指标和应激响应、抗氧化酶活性等生理指标的变化。结果显示道路交通噪声没有导致仓鼠出现明显的焦虑行为;不过，实验组血小板数显著低于对照组(P = 0.044),其他血象指标两组间差异不显著；噪声对血清皮质醇，谷丙、谷草转氨酶影响不显著；实验组的血清谷胱甘肽过氧化物酶（GSH-Px）活性极显著低于对照组（P < 0.001），但超氧化物歧化酶（SOD）活性、过氧化氢酶（CAT）活性、总抗氧化能力 (TAOC) 和丙二醛（MDA）水平两组间差异不显著；血清溶菌酶活性实验组降低较明显，接近显著水平（P = 0.0507）。我们的结果显示道路交通噪声胁迫导致了金色中仓鼠血象指标发生了变化，这提示北京市主干道交通噪声刺激对金色中仓鼠生理功能产生了一定的副作用。

关键词: 交通噪声, 金色中仓鼠, 焦虑行为, 血象, 应激