Rodent

Environmental enrichment attenuates reproductive adversity in a mouse model of Parkinson disease

Environmental enrichment is the provision of different substrates to mimic an animal’s natural environment and encourage natural, species-specific behavior. However, the use of enrichment to improve breeding efficiency in mouse models for neurologic conditions is not well described. There are...

Year Published: 2025Topics: Environmental Enrichment, ReproductionAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Walsh, C. A., Johnson, L., Cirillo, P. A. et al. 2025. Environmental enrichment attenuates reproductive adversity in a mouse model of parkinson disease. Journal of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science 64(1), 58–63.

Hypothermia as a sole euthanasia method for neonatal mice (Mus musculus)

Per the AVMA euthanasia guidelines, there are no data supporting the use of hypothermia as a solitary method of euthanasia for neonatal mice. However, the use of a secondary physical method of euthanasia, such as decapitation, could be time-consuming and...

Year Published: 2025Topics: EuthanasiaAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Tang, N.-K., Theil, J. H., Oates, R. S. 2025. Hypothermia as a sole euthanasia method for neonatal mice (Mus musculus). Journal of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science 64(3), 500–506.

Pharmacokinetics and effectiveness of precise voluntary consumption compared to subcutaneous administration of cephalosporins in rats following orthopedic surgery

The administration of antibiotics is a critical variable when developing animal models of infection. Handling and needle use, however, can cause distress in the animals, leading not only to irritability of the animal but potentially skewed inflammatory data in studies...

Year Published: 2025Topics: Drug/Substance AdministrationAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Shiels, S. M., Sandoval, C. M., Riddle, L. E. et al. 2025. Pharmacokinetics and effectiveness of precise voluntary consumption compared to subcutaneous administration of cephalosporins in rats following orthopedic surgery. Journal of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science 64(3), 385–392.

Gavage-needle voluntary consumption administration of a dose-specific measure to mice (Mus musculus)

Orogastric gavage is a common technique used to administer test articles to rodents with risks ranging from increased stress to death of the animal. In this study, we propose a novel technique to administer treatments to mice for voluntary consumption...

Year Published: 2025Topics: Drug/Substance AdministrationAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Punger, E. M., Norris, S. L., Stevens, S. C. et al. 2025. Gavage-needle voluntary consumption administration of a dose-specific measure to mice (Mus musculus). Journal of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science 64(2), 287–293.

Opinion: Ethical challenges in depression research: The tail suspension test, the forced swim test, and alternative behavioral models

Behavioral tests in laboratory animals, particularly rodents, are considered vital for understanding the mechanisms underlying depression and evaluating potential treatments. However, ethical concerns regarding the use of traditional methods, such as the tail suspension test and the forced swimming test,...

Year Published: 2025Topics: Behavioral & Cognitive TestingAnimal Type: Mouse, Rat, Rodent

Citation: Mohseni, F., Rafaiee, R. 2025. Opinion: Ethical challenges in depression research: The tail suspension test, the forced swim test, and alternative behavioral models. Journal of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science 64(3), 352–355.

Impact of enrichment of metabolic cages with ball-shaped shelters in studies of protein metabolism in rats (Rattus norvegicus)

Housing in metabolic cages for quantitative collection of urine and feces is necessary for nitrogen (N) metabolism studies but may have negative consequences for rat welfare. We hypothesized that providing shelters in metabolic cages would affect the rats’ behavior and...

Year Published: 2025Topics: Biological Sampling & Physiological Measurement, Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Lærke, H. N., Ternman, E. M., Stødkilde, L. et al. 2025. Impact of enrichment of metabolic cages with ball-shaped shelters in studies of protein metabolism in rats (Rattus norvegicus). Journal of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science 64(2), 301–309.

Impact of an implanted intra-abdominal telemetry transmitter on fecal excretion of corticosterone and IgA in adult male F344 and BN rats (Rattus norvegicus)

Telemetry is a widely used method for obtaining physiologic data from rats, but it is uncertain how distressing it is for the animals to live with an implanted transmitter for long periods. The present study aimed to assess this impact...

Year Published: 2025Topics: Biological Sampling & Physiological MeasurementAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Kemppinen, N., Meller, A., Kalliokoski, O. et al. 2025. Impact of an implanted intra-abdominal telemetry transmitter on fecal excretion of corticosterone and IgA in adult male F344 and BN rats (Rattus norvegicus). Journal of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science 64(3), 495–499.

Elastic motivation for circuit running behaviour in captive African striped mice Rhabdomys dilectus: A consumer demand approach

Captive environments often result in repetitive locomotor behaviours in animals, yet the motivation for these behaviours remains poorly understood. We investigated whether circuit running in African striped mice Rhabdomys dilectus represents a necessary coping mechanism or a flexible, cost-sensitive behaviour,...

Year Published: 2025Topics: Abnormal/Problematic BehaviorAnimal Type: Other Rodent, Rodent

Citation: Hartman, K.-J., Joshi, S., Pillay, N. 2025. Elastic motivation for circuit running behaviour in captive African striped mice Rhabdomys dilectus: A consumer demand approach. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 289, 106693.

Effect of novel high-fat diet feeding methods on food wastage, weight gain, hair coat grease accumulation, and scratching behavior in C57BL/6NCrl mice

Soft-pelleted, high-fat diets (HFD) are greasy and crumble easily leading to food wastage and hair coat grease accumulation when mice are fed using commercially available feeders. The ideal HFD feeder design should reduce food wastage, facilitate mouse weight gain, and...

Year Published: 2025Topics: Husbandry & ManagementAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Guy, A. R., Klores, M., Prestia, K. et al. 2025. Effect of novel high-fat diet feeding methods on food wastage, weight gain, hair coat grease accumulation, and scratching behavior in C57BL/6NCrl mice. Journal of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science 64(1), 98–105.

Ge, Y., Alamaw, E. D., Ray, R. R. et al. 2025. Analgesic efficacy of a long-acting transdermal buprenorphine in rats (Rattus norvegicus)

Zorbium is the first long-acting transdermal buprenorphine (LAT-bup) approved by the FDA for relieving postoperative pain in cats for 72 h. This study aimed to investigate LAT-bup’s efficacy for attenuating postoperative mechanical and thermal hypersensitivity in a rat incisional pain...

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

Citation: Ge, Y., Alamaw, E. D., Ray, R. R. et al. 2025. Analgesic efficacy of a long-acting transdermal buprenorphine in rats (Rattus norvegicus). Journal of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science 64(3), 406–413.