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• TA significantly increased serum total cholesterol concentration and decreased the nutrient digestibility of Brandt's voles. • The small intestine of male Brandt's vole between the control and tannic acid groups were analyzed by RNA sequencing. • There were 174 DEGs in the duodenum, 96 DEGs in the jejunum, and 88 DEGs in the ileum. • Many genes associated with fat digestion and absorption were altered after tannic acid treatment. Tannic acid (TA), a significant plant secondary metabolite, is contained in the daily food of Brandt's voles. Its adverse effect on gut function has been shown in earlier research, but the underlying molecular mechanisms remain uncertain. In this study, male Brandt's vole (13 weeks old) were divided into two groups and given 0 (control) or 1,200 (TA-treated) mg•kg−1 TA for 18 days. Then RNA sequencing was used to conduct a thorough transcriptome analysis on the duodenum, jejunum, and ileum of Brandt's voles. Results showed that TA significantly increased serum total cholesterol concentration (P < 0.05) and decreased the nutrient digestibility (P < 0.05) of Brandt's voles. Furthermore, there were 174 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in the duodenum, 96 DEGs in the jejunum, and 88 DEGs in the ileum between the control and TA-treated groups. Enrichment analysis revealed that many genes associated with bile secretion, fat digestion and absorption, innate immune response, and tight junction such as ABCG2 , ABCG8 , PEAK1 , and IFR2 , etc. were altered after TA treatment, which were verified by quantitative real-time PCR. These findings suggested that TA can change the expression of intestinal genes, thereby, altering nutrition metabolism and immunological function, eventually hindering the growth of Brandt's voles. The results of this study provide a theoretical basis for explaining how TA affects the gut function of Brandt's voles at the molecular level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• First and repeated cat and rabbit odor exposure decreased hovering over pups in postpartum voles. • First and repeated cat odor exposure decreased pup retrieval in postpartum voles. • First and repeated rabbit odor exposure affected pup licking in parturient voles. • Repeated cat odor exposure during postpartum period enhanced offspring's locomotor activity. Recent evidence indicates that predation risk plays a special role in the rodent behavior of dams and offspring, but little is known about the effect of maternal exposure to the predator cues in the absence of pups. Here, we assessed the effects of repeated predator odor exposure on various maternal responses in postpartum Brandt's voles (Lasiopodomys brandtii). We also examined offspring's behavioral response to a novel environment. Only mother voles were exposed to distilled water, rabbit urine and cat urine for 60 min daily from postpartum day (PP) 1–18. Maternal behavior was immediately tested after these exposures on PP1, 3, 6, 9 and 18. Repeated cat odor (CO) and rabbit odor (RO) exposure disrupted hovering over pups in a time-dependent fashion. Repeated CO exposure also time-dependently disrupted pup retrieval, whereas RO exposure induced long-term reduction in pup licking. Juvenile offspring of CO-exposed mothers showed increased locomotor activity and decreased rearing in the open field at postnatal day 30. These findings demonstrated that maternal exposure to predator or non-predator odors had a disruptive effect on the maternal behavior of Brandt's voles when only the mother was exposed to these odors, and that the adversity experience with predation risk significantly impacted the behavioral development of offspring. Future work should explore possible behavioral mechanisms, such as the effect of predation risk, on the dams' emotional processing or pup preference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]