Exposure to soiled bedding reduces abnormal repetitive behaviors in mice
Hygiene management protocols in laboratory mouse husbandries worldwide most commonly employ soiled bedding-exposed sentinel mice to monitor the occurrence of infections in mouse colonies. Using this approach, sentinel mice repeatedly receive a mixture of used bedding, supplied by a variety of cages...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2022-11-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnbeh.2022.1062864/full |
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| author | Karin Müller Theresia Lengheimer Julia B. Kral-Pointner Johann Wojta Lusine Yeghiazaryan Christoph Krall Rupert Palme Sonia Kleindorfer Roberto Plasenzotti Daniela D. Pollak Katharina E. Tillmann |
| author_facet | Karin Müller Theresia Lengheimer Julia B. Kral-Pointner Johann Wojta Lusine Yeghiazaryan Christoph Krall Rupert Palme Sonia Kleindorfer Roberto Plasenzotti Daniela D. Pollak Katharina E. Tillmann |
| author_sort | Karin Müller |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Hygiene management protocols in laboratory mouse husbandries worldwide most commonly employ soiled bedding-exposed sentinel mice to monitor the occurrence of infections in mouse colonies. Using this approach, sentinel mice repeatedly receive a mixture of used bedding, supplied by a variety of cages of a defined hygienic unit for a period of several months. Hereby, microorganisms shed in the used bedding can infect the sentinel animals and can be detected in subsequent health monitoring procedures. However, murine excrements carry more than only microorganisms. Mouse feces and urine also contain a multitude of olfactory molecules, which the animals use to code information about social status and context. However, if and how the persistent and repeated experience with these odor cues affects the behavior of sentinel mice, has not yet been explored. To address this question, we conducted a longitudinal study for neurochemical output parameters related to an organism’s responsiveness to challenging conditions, and for the exploratory assessment of a panel of home cage behaviors in soiled bedding and control female C57BL/6J mice. We found that the number of mice showing abnormal repetitive behaviors, including barbering and bar mouthing, was lower in the soiled bedding group. While neutrophil/lymphocyte ratios and fecal corticosterone metabolites did not differ between groups, the within-group variance of the neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio was reduced in the soiled bedding group. These results show that the occurrence of abnormal repetitive behaviors is lower in sentinel than in control mice and suggest a beneficial effect of soiled bedding on the welfare of laboratory mice and on outcome variability. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T14:31:07Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-9eaea905bd83413cb490a87d255e07ee |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1662-5153 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T14:31:07Z |
| publishDate | 2022-11-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience |
| spelling | doaj.art-9eaea905bd83413cb490a87d255e07ee2022-12-22T04:18:38ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience1662-51532022-11-011610.3389/fnbeh.2022.10628641062864Exposure to soiled bedding reduces abnormal repetitive behaviors in miceKarin Müller0Theresia Lengheimer1Julia B. Kral-Pointner2Johann Wojta3Lusine Yeghiazaryan4Christoph Krall5Rupert Palme6Sonia Kleindorfer7Roberto Plasenzotti8Daniela D. Pollak9Katharina E. Tillmann10Department of Neurophysiology and Neuropharmacology, Center for Physiology and Pharmacology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, AustriaCore Facility Laboratory Animal Breeding and Husbandry, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, AustriaDepartment of Internal Medicine II (Cardiology), Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, AustriaDepartment of Internal Medicine II (Cardiology), Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, AustriaCenter for Medical Statistics, Informatics and Intelligent Systems, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, AustriaCenter for Medical Statistics, Informatics and Intelligent Systems, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, AustriaUnit of Physiology, Pathophysiology and Experimental Endocrinology, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Vienna, AustriaDepartment of Behavioral and Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna, Vienna, AustriaCore Facility Laboratory Animal Breeding and Husbandry, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, AustriaDepartment of Neurophysiology and Neuropharmacology, Center for Physiology and Pharmacology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, AustriaDepartment of Neurophysiology and Neuropharmacology, Center for Physiology and Pharmacology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, AustriaHygiene management protocols in laboratory mouse husbandries worldwide most commonly employ soiled bedding-exposed sentinel mice to monitor the occurrence of infections in mouse colonies. Using this approach, sentinel mice repeatedly receive a mixture of used bedding, supplied by a variety of cages of a defined hygienic unit for a period of several months. Hereby, microorganisms shed in the used bedding can infect the sentinel animals and can be detected in subsequent health monitoring procedures. However, murine excrements carry more than only microorganisms. Mouse feces and urine also contain a multitude of olfactory molecules, which the animals use to code information about social status and context. However, if and how the persistent and repeated experience with these odor cues affects the behavior of sentinel mice, has not yet been explored. To address this question, we conducted a longitudinal study for neurochemical output parameters related to an organism’s responsiveness to challenging conditions, and for the exploratory assessment of a panel of home cage behaviors in soiled bedding and control female C57BL/6J mice. We found that the number of mice showing abnormal repetitive behaviors, including barbering and bar mouthing, was lower in the soiled bedding group. While neutrophil/lymphocyte ratios and fecal corticosterone metabolites did not differ between groups, the within-group variance of the neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio was reduced in the soiled bedding group. These results show that the occurrence of abnormal repetitive behaviors is lower in sentinel than in control mice and suggest a beneficial effect of soiled bedding on the welfare of laboratory mice and on outcome variability.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnbeh.2022.1062864/fullabnormal repetitive behaviorsbarberingbar mouthingsoiled beddingsentinel mice |
| spellingShingle | Karin Müller Theresia Lengheimer Julia B. Kral-Pointner Johann Wojta Lusine Yeghiazaryan Christoph Krall Rupert Palme Sonia Kleindorfer Roberto Plasenzotti Daniela D. Pollak Katharina E. Tillmann Exposure to soiled bedding reduces abnormal repetitive behaviors in mice Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience abnormal repetitive behaviors barbering bar mouthing soiled bedding sentinel mice |
| title | Exposure to soiled bedding reduces abnormal repetitive behaviors in mice |
| title_full | Exposure to soiled bedding reduces abnormal repetitive behaviors in mice |
| title_fullStr | Exposure to soiled bedding reduces abnormal repetitive behaviors in mice |
| title_full_unstemmed | Exposure to soiled bedding reduces abnormal repetitive behaviors in mice |
| title_short | Exposure to soiled bedding reduces abnormal repetitive behaviors in mice |
| title_sort | exposure to soiled bedding reduces abnormal repetitive behaviors in mice |
| topic | abnormal repetitive behaviors barbering bar mouthing soiled bedding sentinel mice |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnbeh.2022.1062864/full |
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