Correlation of Body Weight Gain with Food and Water Consumption and Spontaneous Activity in Rats

Minematsu, Sumio; Hiruta, Masahiro; Watanabe, Masayuki; Amagaya, Sakae

doi:10.1538/expanim1978.43.3_433

Cited by 4 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 1 publication

(1 reference statement)

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“…Rat and mouse body weights have been reported to be closely related to activity level, water consumption, and food intake [22,23]. In the present study, we revealed that male rats in DD cages exhibited reduced weight loss after mating compared to males in SD cages, whereas the body weight of female rats was not significantly different between the two cages (Fig.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 54%

Double-decker cage reduces mount frequency and ejaculation latency, resulting in reduced weight loss in male rats after mating behavior

BO,

FUKUDA,

OZAKI

et al. 2024

Exp. Anim.

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Rats were the first mammals to be domesticated for scientific research, and abundant physiological data are available on them. Rats are expected to continue to play an important role as experimental animals, especially with advancements such as CRISPR/Cas9 technology. Environmental enrichment aims to promote species-specific behaviors and psychological well-being. In the present study, we designed a doubledecker (DD) cage, which utilizes two stacked plastic cages for rat enrichment, and investigated the influence of housing in the DD cage on rat mating behavior. The results indicated that mount frequency, total mount counts, and total ejaculation latency were significantly lower in the DD cages than in the single-decker (SD) cages. Notably, in the DD cages, the body weight loss of male rats after mating behavior was lower than that observed in the SD cage. Water consumption per day during mating behavior was also significantly lower in the DD cages, although no significant differences were observed in daily food intake during mating behavior. In addition, reproductive performance, including pregnancy rate and birth rate, did not change in the DD cages. In summary, our study demonstrated that DD cages reduce mount frequency and ejaculation latency during rat mating, resulting in decreased water consumption and weight loss in male rats. Therefore, housing in DD cages may serve as a beneficial enrichment for rats.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 54%

Double-decker cage reduces mount frequency and ejaculation latency, resulting in reduced weight loss in male rats after mating behavior

BO,

FUKUDA,

OZAKI

et al. 2024

Exp. Anim.

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show abstract

“…Ambient temperature, level of physical activity, diurnal rhythms, protein, mineral, and moisture content of the diet, as well as water cleanliness or adulteration with toxic substances can all influence fluid consumption (Minematsu et al, 1994; Kyriazakis and Savory, 1997; Ang et al, 2001; Roe, 1990; Fitzsimons and Le Magnen, 1969; Bolles, 1961). While complete failure to ingest water leads to relatively rapid death, limiting available water to 70–80% of ad lib intake appears to be without adverse physiological effects in experimental animals (Forbes, 1995, as cited by Kyriazakis and Savory, 1997).…”

Section: Dehydration and Thirstmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reduced water intake: Implications for rodent developmental and reproductive toxicity studies

Campbell

Golub

Iyer

et al. 2009

Birth Defects Research Pt B

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In developmental and reproductive toxicity studies, drinking water is a common means of delivering the test agent. Reduced consumption of toxicant-containing water raises questions about indirect effects of reduced maternal fluid consumption resulting from unpalatability, versus direct effects of the test compound. Issues to consider include: objective assessment of dehydration and thirst, the relative contributions of innate and learned behaviors to drinking behavior and flavor preference, and the objective assessment of physiologic stress. Not only do lab animals under ad lib conditions consume more water than the minimum required to maintain fluid balance, animals faced with water restriction have substantial physiologic capacity for protection of metabolic processes. Measures of blood biochemistry can provide quantifiable, objective indications of fluid balance, but changes in these parameters could result from other causes such as effects of a test toxicant. Consummatory behaviors in response to perceived need are highly influenced by learning. Hence, the drinking behavior, water intake, and flavor acceptance/preference of animals used in toxicology experiments could be subject to learning experiences with the test compound. Physiological symptoms of stress produced by water deprivation may be distinguishable from the symptoms associated with other generalized stressors, such as food deprivation, but doing so may be beyond the scope of most developmental or reproductive toxicity studies. Use of concurrent controls, paired to test groups for water consumption, could help distinguish between the direct effects of a test toxicant as opposed to effects of reduced water consumption alone.

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Spectral Analysis of Body Weight, Food and Water Consumption and Spontaneous Motor Activity in Male Sprague-Dawley Rats.

et al. 1995

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Spectral analyses by maximum entropy method were performed on the time-series data of body weight, food and water consumption and spontaneous motor activity in Sprague-Dawley rats. These parameters were recorded by a monitoring system collected every 30 min for 10 days. All the parameters had circadian (24 +/- 4 hr) and ultradian (less than 20 hr) rhythms. From the logarithmic transformation of spectral frequencies and their power spectral densities, the characteristics of the spectrum of body weight showed 1/f fluctuation and those of food and water consumption were white noises. The spectrum of the spontaneous motor activity showed complex characters. The range of frequencies lower than 0.1 Hz showed white noise while the range of those higher than 0.1 Hz were 1/f or 1/f2 fluctuations, especially in the range between 0.5 and 1.0 Hz (1-2 hours cycle). The auto-correlation coefficients of body weight did not declined suggesting that 24 hours cycle is only periodic phenomenon in body weight changes. Though the auto-correlation coefficients of food and water consumption also did not declined, they had not enough auto-correlations. This was consistent with the appearance of white noise in spectral analyses. The auto-correlation coefficients of spontaneous motor activity declined remarkably, and this suggests that there are various periodic changes in spontaneous motor activity including one to two hours cycles. These results suggest that the possibility of further extension of research is expected by using rhythmicity. It is also indicated that the time of measurement of body weight must be taken into consideration in experiments because of the presence of the circadian rhythmic changes.

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Correlation of Body Weight Gain with Food and Water Consumption and Spontaneous Activity in Rats

Cited by 4 publications

References 1 publication

Double-decker cage reduces mount frequency and ejaculation latency, resulting in reduced weight loss in male rats after mating behavior

Double-decker cage reduces mount frequency and ejaculation latency, resulting in reduced weight loss in male rats after mating behavior

Reduced water intake: Implications for rodent developmental and reproductive toxicity studies

Spectral Analysis of Body Weight, Food and Water Consumption and Spontaneous Motor Activity in Male Sprague-Dawley Rats.

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