Isoflurane and Pentobarbital Anesthesia for Pulmonary Studies Requiring Prolonged Mechanical Ventilation in Mice.

Mechanical ventilation can be used in mice to support high-risk anesthesia or to create clinically relevant, intensive care models. However, the choice of anesthetic and inspired oxygen concentration for prolonged procedures may affect basic physiology and lung inflammation. To characterize the effects of anesthetics and oxygen concentration in mice experiencing mechanical ventilation, mice were anesthetized with either isoflurane or pentobarbital for tracheostomy followed by mechanical ventilation with either 100% or 21% oxygen.

Thermoneutral Housing Temperature Improves Survival in a Murine Model of Polymicrobial Peritonitis.

Regulatory guidelines mandate housing for laboratory mice at temperatures below their thermoneutral zone, creating chronic cold stress. However, increases in housing temperature could alter immune responses. We hypothesized housing mice at temperatures within their thermoneutral zone would improve sepsis survival and alter immune responses.

The Influence of Pain and Analgesia in Rodent Models of Sepsis.

Sepsis is a multifaceted host response to infection that dramatically affects patient outcomes and the cost of health care. Animal models are necessary to replicate the complexity and heterogeneity of clinical sepsis. However, these models entail a high risk of pain and distress due to tissue trauma, inflammation, endotoxin-mediated hyperalgesia, and other mechanisms.

Periostin promotes fibrosis and predicts progression in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a progressive fibrotic lung disease without effective therapeutics. Periostin has been reported to be elevated in IPF patients relative to controls, but its sources and mechanisms of action remain unclear. We confirm excess periostin in lungs of IPF patients and show that IPF fibroblasts produce periostin.