Rodent

Current recommendations for the use of red spectrum lighting in research animal facility planning and design

Light, an environmental factor much like noise, vibration, temperature, and humidity, has long been a concern to lighting engineers, biomedical researchers, and animal care personnel and requires great consideration in the design and planning of research animal facilities and laboratory...

Year Published: 2026Topics: Husbandry & ManagementAnimal Type: Mouse, Rat, Rodent

Citation: Dauchy, R. T. 2026. Current recommendations for the use of red spectrum lighting in research animal facility planning and design. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 14(2) (March/April), 12-14.

Implications for health assessments of the relationship between body fat percent and body condition scoring in Fisher 344 x brown Norway rats varying by sex and age

Body condition scoring (BCS) has been implemented across farming, veterinary, and research settings1–3 to probe body fat reserves for quick and effective assessment of animal welfare. Some strains of rats, including the male Fischer344 x Brown Norway F1 hybrid (FBN)...

Year Published: 2026Topics: Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Logan, C. N., Ramirez, M., Smith, S. et al. 2026. Implications for health assessments of the relationship between body fat percent and body condition scoring in Fisher 344 x brown Norway rats varying by sex and age. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 14(1) (January/February), 24-33.

Quantitative assessment of facial barbering recovery in response to environmental enrichment: A case report

Environmental enrichment was shown to delay the onset and reduce the prevalence and severity of barbering-induced alopecia in C57BL/6J mice.1,4 To reduce the frequency of barbering, we provided a multifaceted enrichment scheme to a mouse with severe facial barbering. Herein,...

Year Published: 2025Topics: Abnormal/Problematic Behavior, Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Sgai, M. G., Zaias, J. 2025. Quantitative assessment of facial barbering recovery in response to environmental enrichment: A case report. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 13(6) (November/December), 21-23.

Transfer to a naturalistic setting restructures fear responses in laboratory mice

Appropriate classification of a novel stimulus as threatening or benign depends on a repertoire of prior environmental experiences involving challenge, risk, and opportunity1,2. Without this library, individuals may classify harmless stimuli as dangerous — a hallmark of generalized anxiety1,2. In...

Year Published: 2025Topics: Housing, Natural BehaviorAnimal Type: Bird, Chicken, Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Zipple, M. N., Loflin, B., Kuo, D. C. et al. 2025. Transfer to a naturalistic setting restructures fear responses in laboratory mice. Current Biology 35(24), R1175–R1176.

Welfare complications in the male BN/Crl and RjHan:SD rat streptozotocin-induced diabetes models

The streptozotocin (STZ)-induced hyperglycaemic rat model is widely used in diabetes research, particularly for investigating diabetic retinopathy; however, animal welfare concerns are often underreported. This study evaluated welfare outcomes in two commonly used rat lines, Brown Norway (BN/Crl) and Sprague...

Year Published: 2025Topics: Disease/Experimental ModelAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Tenhunen, A., Mering, S., Voipio, H.-M. et al. 2025. Welfare complications in the male BN/Crl and RjHan:SD rat streptozotocin-induced diabetes models. Laboratory Animals 59(6), 652–663.

Beyond single metrics: Multi-parameter home-cage monitoring improves welfare assessment

Single outcome measures often fall short of the sensitivity and objectivity expected under European Directive 2010/63, particularly in fast progressing disease models. To address this gap, the German Research Foundation consortium FOR2591 collated data from 55 routinely used models in...

Year Published: 2026Topics: Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: Amphibian, Baboon, Capuchin, Chimpanzee, Frog & Toad, Gibbon, Lemur, Macaque, Marmoset, Mouse, Nonhuman Primate, Other Nonhuman Primate, Owl Monkey, Pig, Rat, Rodent, Squirrel Monkey, Vervet (African Green Monkey)

Citation: Talbot, S. R., Tolba, R. H., Bleich, A. 2026. Beyond single metrics: Multi-parameter home-cage monitoring improves welfare assessment. Laboratory Animals 60(1), 20–24.

GrimACE: Automated, multimodal cage-side assessment of pain and well-being in mice

Pain and welfare monitoring is essential for ethical animal testing, but current cage-side assessments are qualitative and subjective. Here we present the GrimACE, a fully standardized and automated cage-side monitoring tool for mice, the most widely used animals in research....

Year Published: 2026Topics: Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Sturman, O., Schmutz, M., Lorimer, T. et al. 2026. GrimACE: Automated, multimodal cage-side assessment of pain and well-being in mice. Lab Animal 55(4), 137–146.

Individually ventilated cages severely attenuate inter-cage ultrasonic vocalizations in rats

Individually ventilated cages (IVCs) benefit rodent and researcher health but may limit animals’ ability to communicate with cage-neighbours via ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs). Despite USVs’ importance in rodent social behaviour, no previous research has investigated IVCs’ impact on between-cage USV transmission....

Year Published: 2025Topics: HousingAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Scott, K. J., Bilkey, D. K. 2025. Individually ventilated cages severely attenuate inter-cage ultrasonic vocalizations in rats. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science 28(4), 730–739.

Social buffering of stress in rats: A multisystem meta-analysis and translational framework for stress resilience

Background: Social context modulates stress physiology and resilience, yet preclinical rat paradigms vary widely in stressor type, timing of social exposure, contact modality, and endpoint definitions. We synthesized rat studies to quantify directional and, where feasible, standardized effect-size evidence for...

Year Published: 2026Topics: Social Housing & CompanionshipAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Sarapultsev, A., Komelkova, M., Gusev, E. et al. 2026. Social buffering of stress in rats: A multisystem meta-analysis and translational framework for stress resilience. Physiology & Behavior 307, 115242.

A new and less invasive surgical approach to the mouse spared nerve injury model of peripheral neuropathic pain

Background: Spared nerve injury (SNI) is a widely used rodent model in the study of peripheral neuropathic pain. The injury, that involves ligation and resection of the common peroneal and tibial branches of the sciatic nerve, results in a robust...

Year Published: 2026Topics: Disease/Experimental ModelAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Rought, R., Rodrigues, R., Sharif-Naeini, R. et al. 2026. A new and less invasive surgical approach to the mouse spared nerve injury model of peripheral neuropathic pain. Journal of Neuroscience Methods 431, 110751.