Group activity of mice in communal home cage used as an indicator of disease progression and rate of recovery: Effects of LPS and influenza virus

Yaron Vagima, Ettie Grauer, Boaz Politi, Shlomy Maimon, Efi Yitzhak, Sharon Melamed, Hagit Achdout, David Gur, Moshe Aftalion, Alon Shemesh, Aviram Hasson, Shmuel Yitzhaki, Shmuel C. Shapira, Emanuel Mamroud

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

3 Scopus citations

Abstract

Large numbers of rodents are often used in the study of disease progression and in the evaluation of its potential treatments. To avoid subjective observation and to minimize home cage interference, we developed a computerized home cage monitoring system (HCMS100) based on a standard cage rack adapted with a single laser beam and a detector mounted on each cage, enabling to monitor mice movements based on laser beam interruptions. This retrofit system provided continuous and uninterrupted monitoring of spontaneous movement of a group of mice in a home cage. Validity was evaluated using disease state induced by LPS modelling bacterial infection and by influenza virus. Results: Spontaneous activity of different number of mice (2–8) per cage showed the expected circadian rhythm with increased activity during the night, and its extent dependent on the number of mice in the cage. Females and males show similar circadian rhythm. Intranasal LPS administration and pulmonary infection with live influenza virus resulted in major reduction of mice activity along disease progression. Increase in activity over time was a good indicator of the recovery process from both LPS exposure and the flu infection. Conclusions: HCMS100 was shown to be a reliable, inexpensive, easy to use system that requires no changes in the common housing of various experimental animals (mice, hamsters, rats etc.). With minimal intervention, HCMS100 provides a continuous record of group activity with clear pattern of circadian rhythm, allowing long term recording of home cage activity even in restricted access environments.

Original languageEnglish
Article number118214
JournalLife Sciences
Volume258
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Oct 2020
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Elsevier Inc.

Funding

We wish to thank Mr. Benjamin Sharabi and Mr. Meir Avraham for their expert technical assistant in performing all animal experiments. The Israel Institute for Biological Research supported the study, grant number SB/5112-14 . The funders played no role in the study design, data collection and analyses, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

FundersFunder number
Israel Institute for Biological ResearchSB/5112-14

    Keywords

    • Animal activity
    • Animal behavior
    • Disease state
    • Influenza
    • LPS
    • Mice

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