Comparison of blood sampling methods for plasma corticosterone measurements in mice associated with minimal stress-related artefacts

Kim, Sarah; Foong, Daphne; Cooper, Mark S.; Seibel, Markus J.; Zhou, Hong

doi:10.1016/j.steroids.2018.03.004

Cited by 33 publications

(41 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…Our head-fixed experiments revealed that the initial level of corticosterone in the blood sample after a single head-fixed session is almost 2-6 times lower 34 in the MHC approach than in the full-body restraint, about 200 ng/ml versus about 400-1200 ng/ml depending on the source of the ELISA assay 30 , the basal level of the corticosterone 35 and the study design 19,36,37 . However, this value is still 9 times higher than the corticosterone level in the non-head-fixed control animals (about 20 ng/ml) which is lower or corresponds to the baseline corticosterone level observed in other studies 19,31,[34][35][36][37] . Therefore, a habituation protocol where mice adapt to the head-fixing constitutes an important experimental procedure, especially for experiments where stress is considered a confounding factor.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 64%

“…Measurement of blood corticosterone concentration is a commonly used method to assess physiological stress response [30][31][32] . However, it is important to remember that stress is a complex physiological mechanism incorporating changes in secretion of many different hormones and transmitters, in addition to corticosterone (for review, see 4 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The entire blood sampling procedure took no longer than 5 minutes (most often less than 2-3 minutes) minimizing confounding stress-response related to the blood sampling itself. It was reported that the corticosterone level increase in response to the stressor is noticeable no earlier than 5 minutes after its occurrence 31 . The sample was taken first from the control animal that had remained alone in the cage, then from the head-fixed littermate which was just coming back to the cage to avoid potential acute stress related to a bleeding littermate.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Corticosterone blood concentration measurement. After careful consideration of different blood sampling methods (for review, see 31,32 ), tail vein bleeding from the awake animal was chosen. It was the least stressful procedure which allowed us to collect relatively large blood samples in a short time.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Stress and behavioral correlates in the head-fixed method

Juczewski

Koussa

Kesner

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Head-fixation of awake rodents is a method that allows for sophisticated investigation and manipulation of neural circuits in vivo, that would otherwise be impossible in completely freely moving animals. However, while it is known that head-fixation induces stress, its scale and habituation dynamics remain unclear. Thus, interpretation of physiological and behavioral experiments would greatly benefit from the characterization of the stress response. In our study, we used the Mobile HomeCage system (Neurotar, Finland) where animals are head-fixed to an aluminum frame, but otherwise freely moving in an ultralight carbon container floating above an air-dispensing base. To better understand this experimental environment, we analyzed locomotion and stress during an extended habituation protocol. For 25 consecutive days, mice were prepared as they would be for recording experiments, i.e. head-fixed while standing on the air-lifted platform for 2 hours per day. Throughout 25 days, blood samples were taken periodically from the tail vein to measure variation in the stress-related hormone, corticosterone. These data were compared and contrasted with behavioral data including locomotion during the 2-hours head-fixed habituation sessions and several classical behavioral measurements known to be affected by chronic mild stress. Author Contributions StatementK.J. and D.M.L. conceived the project. K.J. conducted the head-fixed experiments with the help from J.A. K. Moreover, K.J. planned and performed the blood sampling procedure, the behavioral experiments, the blood corticosterone concentration analysis and the locomotion analysis. A.J.K. actively participated in designing behavioral experiments and performed a part of the behavioral analysis. J.O.L. actively participated in designing and performed a part of locomotion analysis. K.J. and D.M.L. wrote the manuscript with input from

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 64%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Stress and behavioral correlates in the head-fixed method

Juczewski

Koussa

Kesner

et al. 2020

Preprint

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“…10.5-12.5 min from the start of the trial) using 70 µl heparinized capillary tubes (Medlab Products, Raszyn, Poland). Among a number of blood sampling procedures applicable to small rodents (Joslin, 2009;Kim et al, 2018), only retro-orbital sampling allows sufficient sample volume from bank voles to be obtained. No anesthesia was applied prior to blood sampling, as it could impair the ability to obtain samples of sufficient volume through reduction of blood flow.…”

Section: Cort Response To Swimming Trialmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stress coping and evolution of aerobic exercise performance: corticosterone levels in voles from a selection experiment

Lipowska

Sadowska

Bauchinger

et al. 2019

Journal of Experimental Biology

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The locomotor performance achieved in a challenging situation depends not only on physiological limitations, such as the aerobic exercise capacity, but also on behavioral characteristics, such as adequate coping with stress. The stress response is mediated largely by the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, through modulated release of glucocorticoids. We used a unique experimental evolution model system to test the hypothesis that the evolution of an increased aerobic exercise performance can be facilitated by modification of the glucocorticoid-related stress-coping mechanisms. Bank voles (Myodes glareolus) from 'aerobic' (A) lines, selected for 22 generations for high maximum swim-induced rate of oxygen consumption (V̇O 2,swim), achieved a 64% higher V̇O 2,swim than those from unselected, control lines. The temporal pattern of exercise during the swimming trial also evolved, and the A-line voles achieved V̇O 2,swim later in the course of the trial, which indicates a modification of the stress response characteristics. Both V̇O 2,swim and the average metabolic rate measured during the trial tended to increase with baseline corticosterone level, and decreased with the post-exercise corticosterone level. Thus, increased baseline corticosterone level promotes high metabolic performance, but a high corticosterone response to swimming acts as an inhibitor rather than stimulator of intense activity. However, neither of the corticosterone traits differed between the A-selected and control lines. Thus, the experiment did not provide evidence that evolution of increased aerobic performance is facilitated by the modification of glucocorticoid levels. The results, however, do not exclude the possibility that other aspects of the HPA axis function evolved in response to the selection.

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Cues associated with a single ethanol exposure elicit conditioned corticosterone responses in adolescent male but not female Sprague–Dawley rats

Gano,

Barney,

Vore

et al. 2023

Developmental Psychobiology

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It has been shown that ethanol‐induced interleukin‐6 (IL‐6) in adult male Sprague–Dawley rats was sensitized by environmental stimuli paired with ethanol and was accompanied by a conditioned increase in corticosterone (CORT). Adolescent males showed ethanol‐induced IL‐6 conditioning more readily than adults. The present studies examined whether female adolescents display IL‐6 conditioning and whether adolescents of either sex show CORT conditioning. Male and female (N = 212, n = 6–10) adolescent (postnatal day 33–40) rats were given ethanol (2 g/kg intraperitoneal injection; the unconditioned stimulus), either paired with a lavender‐scented novel context (the conditioned stimulus) or explicitly unpaired from context. Rats were tested in the context without ethanol and brains/blood were collected. Adolescent females did not show signs of neuroimmune (Experiment 1) or CORT conditioning (Experiments 2–4). Paired males showed enhanced CORT to the scented context relative to unpaired counterparts when the interoceptive cue of a saline injection was used on test day (Experiment 2). Experiment 5 used a delayed conditioning procedure and showed that male paired adolescents showed significantly higher CORT in response to context, showing that classically conditioned CORT response was precipitated by environmental cues alone. These findings indicate that adolescent males may be predisposed to form conditioned associations between alcohol and environmental cues, contributing to adolescent vulnerability to long‐lasting ethanol effects.

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Comparison of blood sampling methods for plasma corticosterone measurements in mice associated with minimal stress-related artefacts

Cited by 33 publications

References 10 publications

Stress and behavioral correlates in the head-fixed method

Stress and behavioral correlates in the head-fixed method

Stress coping and evolution of aerobic exercise performance: corticosterone levels in voles from a selection experiment

Cues associated with a single ethanol exposure elicit conditioned corticosterone responses in adolescent male but not female Sprague–Dawley rats

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