Recommended housing densities for research mice: filling the gap in data-driven alternatives.

Space recommendations for mice made in the Guide for Care and Use of Laboratory Animals have not changed since 1972, despite important improvements in husbandry and caging practices. The 1996 version of the Guide put forth a challenge to investigators to produce new data evaluating the effects of space allocation on the well-being of mice. In this review, we summarize many studies published in response to this challenge.

Physician-diagnosed eczema is an independent risk factor for incident mouse skin test sensitization in adults.

Background: The disrupted skin barrier in eczema has been associated with an increased risk of immunoglobulin E (IgE) sensitization in childhood. However, it is unclear whether eczema, independent of atopy, is a risk factor for the development of allergic sensitization in adulthood.

Objective: To determine if skin barrier dysfunction, independent of atopy, is a risk factor for incident sensitization in adult workers at a mouse production and research facility.

Atopy as a Modifier of the Relationships Between Endotoxin Exposure and Symptoms Among Laboratory Animal Workers.

Background: Exposure to endotoxin is known to trigger airway inflammation and symptoms, and atopy may modify the relationship between endotoxin exposure and symptom development.

Objective: To test the a priori hypothesis that atopic status modifies the relationship between endotoxin exposure and respiratory symptom development.

Methods: A prospective study of laboratory workers at The Jackson Laboratories was conducted.

Effects of Varied Housing Density on a Hybrid Mouse Strain Followed for 20 Months.

To evaluate the effect of increased housing density in a hybrid mouse strain, we evaluated a panel of physiological and behavioral traits in animals that were housed in groups of 3, 5, 8, or 12, using cages that provide 78.1 in2 of floor space. Such groupings resulted in cage densities that ranged from half to almost twice the density recommended by the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals.

Integrative Mouse and Human Studies Implicate ANGPT1 and ZBTB7C as Susceptibility Genes to Ischemic Injury.

Background And Purpose: The extent of ischemic injury in response to cerebral ischemia is known to be affected by native vasculature. However, the nonvascular and dynamic vascular responses and their genetic basis are not well understood.

Methods: We performed a genome-wide association study in 235 mice from 33 inbred strains using the middle cerebral artery occlusion model.