TY - JOUR
T1 - Bedding as a variable affecting fasting blood glucose and vascular physiology in mice
AU - Sveeggen, Timothy M.
AU - Isakson, Brant E.
AU - Straub, Adam C.
AU - Bagher, Pooneh
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Grants HL155618 (to B.E.I., A.C.S., and P.B.), HL161177 (to A.C.S.), HL088554 (to B.E.I.), and HL137112 (to B.E.I.).
Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2023 the American Physiological Society.
PY - 2023/8
Y1 - 2023/8
N2 - Rodent husbandry requires careful consideration of environmental factors that may impact colony performance and subsequent physiological studies. Of note, recent reports have suggested corncob bedding may affect a broad range of organ systems. As corncob bedding may contain digestible hemicelluloses, trace sugars, and fiber, we hypothesized that corncob bedding impacts overnight fasting blood glucose and murine vascular function. Here, we compared mice housed on corncob bedding, which were then fasted overnight on either corncob or ALPHA-dri bedding, a virgin paper pulp cellulose alternative. Male and female mice were used from two noninduced, endothelial-specific conditional knockout strains [Cadherin 5-cre/ERT2, floxed hemoglobin-a1 (Hba1fl/fl) or Cadherin 5-cre/ERT2, floxed cytochrome-B5 reductase 3 (CyB5R3fl/fl)] on a C57BL/6J genetic background. After fasting overnight, initial fasting blood glucose was measured, and mice were anesthetized with isoflurane for measurement of blood perfusion via laser speckle contrast analysis using a PeriMed PeriCam PSI NR system. After a 15-min equilibration, the mice were injected intraperitoneally with the a1-adrenergic receptor agonist, phenylephrine (5 mg/kg), or saline, and monitored for changes in blood perfusion. After a 15-min response period, blood glucose was remeasured postprocedure. In both strains, mice fasted on corncob bedding had higher blood glucose than the pulp cellulose group. In the CyB5R3fl/fl strain, mice housed on corncob bedding displayed a significant reduction in phenylephrine-mediated change in perfusion. In the Hba1fl/fl strain, phenylephrine-induced change in perfusion was not different in the corncob group. This work suggests that corncob bedding, in part due to its ingestion by mice, could impact vascular measurements and fasting blood glucose. To promote scientific rigor and improve reproducibility, bedding type should be routinely included in published methods.
AB - Rodent husbandry requires careful consideration of environmental factors that may impact colony performance and subsequent physiological studies. Of note, recent reports have suggested corncob bedding may affect a broad range of organ systems. As corncob bedding may contain digestible hemicelluloses, trace sugars, and fiber, we hypothesized that corncob bedding impacts overnight fasting blood glucose and murine vascular function. Here, we compared mice housed on corncob bedding, which were then fasted overnight on either corncob or ALPHA-dri bedding, a virgin paper pulp cellulose alternative. Male and female mice were used from two noninduced, endothelial-specific conditional knockout strains [Cadherin 5-cre/ERT2, floxed hemoglobin-a1 (Hba1fl/fl) or Cadherin 5-cre/ERT2, floxed cytochrome-B5 reductase 3 (CyB5R3fl/fl)] on a C57BL/6J genetic background. After fasting overnight, initial fasting blood glucose was measured, and mice were anesthetized with isoflurane for measurement of blood perfusion via laser speckle contrast analysis using a PeriMed PeriCam PSI NR system. After a 15-min equilibration, the mice were injected intraperitoneally with the a1-adrenergic receptor agonist, phenylephrine (5 mg/kg), or saline, and monitored for changes in blood perfusion. After a 15-min response period, blood glucose was remeasured postprocedure. In both strains, mice fasted on corncob bedding had higher blood glucose than the pulp cellulose group. In the CyB5R3fl/fl strain, mice housed on corncob bedding displayed a significant reduction in phenylephrine-mediated change in perfusion. In the Hba1fl/fl strain, phenylephrine-induced change in perfusion was not different in the corncob group. This work suggests that corncob bedding, in part due to its ingestion by mice, could impact vascular measurements and fasting blood glucose. To promote scientific rigor and improve reproducibility, bedding type should be routinely included in published methods.
KW - ARRIVE
KW - blood glucose
KW - corncob bedding
KW - mouse husbandry
KW - vascular function
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U2 - 10.1152/ajpheart.00168.2023
DO - 10.1152/ajpheart.00168.2023
M3 - Article
C2 - 37389954
AN - SCOPUS:85165521615
SN - 0363-6135
VL - 325
SP - H338-H345
JO - American Journal of Physiology - Heart and Circulatory Physiology
JF - American Journal of Physiology - Heart and Circulatory Physiology
IS - 2
ER -