Establishing normal plasma and 24-hour urinary biochemistry ranges in C3H, BALB/c and C57BL/6J mice following acclimatization in metabolic cages

Abstract

Physiological studies of mice are facilitated by normal plasma and 24-hour urinary reference ranges, but variability of these parameters may increase due to stress that is induced by housing in metabolic cages. We assessed daily weight, food and water intake, urine volume and final day measurements of the following: plasma sodium, potassium, chloride, urea, creatinine, calcium, phosphate, alkaline phosphatase, albumin, cholesterol and glucose; and urinary sodium, potassium, calcium, phosphate, glucose and protein in 24- to 30-week-old C3H/HeH, BALB/cAnNCrl and C57BL/6J mice. Between 15 and 20 mice of each sex from all three strains were individually housed in metabolic cages with ad libitum feeding for up to seven days. Acclimatization was evaluated using general linear modelling for repeated measures and comparison of biochemical data was by unpaired t-test and analysis of variance (SPSS version 12.0.1). Following an initial 5-10% fall in body weight, daily dietary intake, urinary output and weight in all three strains reached stable values after 3-4 days of confinement. Significant differences in plasma glucose, cholesterol, urea, chloride, calcium and albumin, and urinary glucose, sodium, phosphate, calcium and protein were observed between strains and genders. Thus, these results provide normal reference values for plasma and urinary biochemistry in three strains housed in metabolic cages and demonstrate that 3-4 days are required to reach equilibrium in metabolic cage studies. These variations due to strain and gender have significant implications for selecting the appropriate strain upon which to breed genetically-altered models of metabolic and renal disease.

Mucin-1-Antibody-Conjugated Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles for Selective Breast Cancer Detection in a Mucin-1 Transgenic Murine Mouse Model

“…Ex vivo analysis of different organs demonstrated that the ab-tMUC1-NIR-MSN nanoprobe is mainly localized in the liver. Interestingly, with comparable values to those observed in normal mice, 59, 60 liver panels conducted in the animals did not show major short-term toxicity due to the presence of the ab-tMUC1-NIR-MSN probe in this organ (Table II). However, additional studies need to be conducted to evaluate the long-term toxicity of the ab-tMUC1-NIR-MSN nanoprobe.…”

Nano-palladium is a cellular catalyst for in vivo chemistry

“…In naive immunocompetent BALB/c mice, blood chemistry analysis showed no substantial liver or kidney toxicities at this dose, and unchanged immunoglobulin E levels suggested no allergic response to repeated (q4dx4) Pd-NP administration compared to the Pd-free PLGA-PEG NP vehicle control (Supplementary Table 1). ALP decreased slightly (Supplementary Table 1), possibly related to artefactual haemolysis noted in some samples31, but nevertheless remained within a normal physiological range3233. Repeated Pd-NP treatment also yielded no substantial changes in complete blood counts using the fibrosarcoma xenograft model (Supplementary Table 2).…”

Autosomal Dominant Hypercalciuria in a Mouse Model Due to a Mutation of the Epithelial Calcium Channel, TRPV5

“…Trpv5 682P/682P mice, were found to be viable, fertile and morphologically indistinguishable from their Trpv5 +/+ and Trpv5 682P/+ littermates. Mice between 12–20 weeks of age were housed in metabolic cages for 24 hours and urine samples collected for biochemical analysis [26]. Trpv5 682P/682P mice were polydypsic and polyuric compared to Trpv5 +/+ mice (p<0.02, Table 1).…”