Analyzing corticosterone metabolites in fecal samples of mice: a noninvasive technique to monitor stress (2004)

Touma, C., Palme, R., Sachser, N.

Abstract

In small animals like mice, the monitoring of endocrine functions over time constrained seriously by the adverse effects of blood sampling. Therefore, techniques to monitor, for example, stress hormones in these animals are demanded in laboratory as well as in field research. The aim of our study was evaluate the biological relevance of a recently developed technique to monitor hormone metabolites in fecal samples of laboratory mice. ... Furthermore, the proved sensitive enough to detect dosage-dependent effects of the treatment and facilitated to reveal profound effects of the injection procedure itself.