Abstract: Food quantity and quality are important factors that affect animals'immunity. Would wild animals select the food advantageous to their health when they are faced with different foods? To solve this question, striped hamsters (Cricetulus barabensis) were fed with their favorite peanut (Arachis hypogaea), and then cellular immunity and hematological parameters indicative of health status were measured. Thirty adult female non-reproductive hamsters were randomly grouped into the normal fodder group (NF, n=10), the normal fodder plus peanuts group (NP, n=10), and the peanut group (Peanut, n=10). The feeding period lasted for 39 days. Feeding peanuts increased body mass in the Peanut group, while decreased food intake in the NP and Peanut groups. Phytohaemagglutinin (PHA) response after 12 h of PHA injection in the NP group was higher than that in the NF group. The number of white blood cells (WBC) and lymphocytes (LYMP) did not differ among the three groups. However, WBC in the NP and Peanut groups was 22. 9% and 25. 0% higher than that the NF group, respectively, and LYMP in the NP and Peanut groups was 15. 0% and 22. 5% higher than that the NF group, respectively. Red blood cell count and its specific volume (PCV) in the NP and Peanut groups were higher than that in the NF group. The number of platelets in the Peanut group was higher than in the NP and Peanut groups. Collectively, these results indicate that feeding peanuts could enhance cellular immunity, the oxygen-carrying capacity of red blood cells and blood clotting capacity, which may be the physiological reason for the striped hamster to select peanuts as its favorite food.

Key words: Striped hamsters (Cricetulus barabensis), Peanut, Phytohaemagglutinin response, Hematological parameters

摘要： 食物的数量和质量是影响动物免疫功能的重要因素。野生动物在选择食物时是否会优先选择有利于其健康的食物？为解决该问题，我们以黑线仓鼠(Cricetulus barabensis)为研究对象，通过饲喂其喜食食物花生(Arachis hypogaea)，然后检测反映健康状况的细胞免疫能力和血液指标。将30只非繁殖期成年雌性黑线仓鼠随机分为正常饲料组(normal fodder group,NF,n=10)、花生加饲料组(normal fodder plus peanuts group,NP,n=10)和花生组(Peanut,n=10)，饲喂39 d后检测各项指标。结果发现Peanut组的体重增加，NP和Peanut组的摄食量降低。NP组注射植物血球凝集素(Phytohaemagglutinin，PHA)后12 h的PHA反应显著高于NF组。3组间白细胞数和淋巴细胞数在统计学上没有显著差异，但NP和Peanut组白细胞数比NF组分别高22.9%和25.0%，淋巴细胞数分别高15.0%和22.5%。NP和Peanut组红细胞数和红细胞压积显著高于NF组，而Peanut组血小板数显著高于NF和NP组。这些结果表明饲喂花生能增强黑线仓鼠的细胞免疫能力、输氧能力和凝血功能，这可能是其喜食花生的生理原因。

关键词: 黑线仓鼠, 花生, 植物血球凝集素反应, 血液指标