Think Beyond the Room: Measuring Relative Humidity in the Home Cage and Its Impact on Reproduction in Laboratory Mice, <i>Mus musculus</i>
Relative humidity (RH) is measured in vivaria with a broad range to accommodate seasonal fluctuations. It is assumed that measurements in the room (macroenvironment) reflect those in the cage (microenvironment). However, there is limited data comparing RH in the macroenvironment to the microenvironm...
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MDPI AG
2024-11-01
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/14/22/3164 |
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| author | Amanda J. Barabas Ronald A. Conlon Craig A. Hodges |
| author_facet | Amanda J. Barabas Ronald A. Conlon Craig A. Hodges |
| author_sort | Amanda J. Barabas |
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| description | Relative humidity (RH) is measured in vivaria with a broad range to accommodate seasonal fluctuations. It is assumed that measurements in the room (macroenvironment) reflect those in the cage (microenvironment). However, there is limited data comparing RH in the macroenvironment to the microenvironment and how the mice may be affected by variations in RH that fall within husbandry recommendations. This study aimed to compare RH in the macroenvironment to that of the microenvironment in various group sizes of laboratory mice; and examine how variation in microenvironmental RH impacts pup survival. Temperature and RH were measured using a temperature/humidity data logger attached to a solid top cage lid. The lid was rotated across <i>N</i> = 48 breeding trios and <i>N</i> = 33 same sex cages on a C57BL/6J background. Further, once a week, a single breeding trio was selected (<i>N</i> = 23) to compare RH readings to weekly rates of pup loss in a larger breeding colony. Across all cages, RH was higher in the microenvironment than the macroenvironment. RH was universally higher in the summer than in the winter, and increased with group size. For breeding cages, as microenvironmental RH increased, the proportion of pups lost each week decreased in a linear relationship. No threshold of decreased mortality could be identified. These data highlight RH as a potential extrinsic factor. While these patterns are correlational, they warrant further research focused on the causative role of RH on mouse welfare. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-9d07a576e1284e4d8e0911d5e2114dfb |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2076-2615 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-11-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
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| spelling | doaj-art-9d07a576e1284e4d8e0911d5e2114dfb2025-08-20T02:26:44ZengMDPI AGAnimals2076-26152024-11-011422316410.3390/ani14223164Think Beyond the Room: Measuring Relative Humidity in the Home Cage and Its Impact on Reproduction in Laboratory Mice, <i>Mus musculus</i>Amanda J. Barabas0Ronald A. Conlon1Craig A. Hodges2Department of Genetics and Genome Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106, USADepartment of Genetics and Genome Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106, USADepartment of Genetics and Genome Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106, USARelative humidity (RH) is measured in vivaria with a broad range to accommodate seasonal fluctuations. It is assumed that measurements in the room (macroenvironment) reflect those in the cage (microenvironment). However, there is limited data comparing RH in the macroenvironment to the microenvironment and how the mice may be affected by variations in RH that fall within husbandry recommendations. This study aimed to compare RH in the macroenvironment to that of the microenvironment in various group sizes of laboratory mice; and examine how variation in microenvironmental RH impacts pup survival. Temperature and RH were measured using a temperature/humidity data logger attached to a solid top cage lid. The lid was rotated across <i>N</i> = 48 breeding trios and <i>N</i> = 33 same sex cages on a C57BL/6J background. Further, once a week, a single breeding trio was selected (<i>N</i> = 23) to compare RH readings to weekly rates of pup loss in a larger breeding colony. Across all cages, RH was higher in the microenvironment than the macroenvironment. RH was universally higher in the summer than in the winter, and increased with group size. For breeding cages, as microenvironmental RH increased, the proportion of pups lost each week decreased in a linear relationship. No threshold of decreased mortality could be identified. These data highlight RH as a potential extrinsic factor. While these patterns are correlational, they warrant further research focused on the causative role of RH on mouse welfare.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/14/22/3164relative humidityextrinsic factorlaboratory mouseanimal welfaremouse reproductionanimal husbandry |
| spellingShingle | Amanda J. Barabas Ronald A. Conlon Craig A. Hodges Think Beyond the Room: Measuring Relative Humidity in the Home Cage and Its Impact on Reproduction in Laboratory Mice, <i>Mus musculus</i> Animals relative humidity extrinsic factor laboratory mouse animal welfare mouse reproduction animal husbandry |
| title | Think Beyond the Room: Measuring Relative Humidity in the Home Cage and Its Impact on Reproduction in Laboratory Mice, <i>Mus musculus</i> |
| title_full | Think Beyond the Room: Measuring Relative Humidity in the Home Cage and Its Impact on Reproduction in Laboratory Mice, <i>Mus musculus</i> |
| title_fullStr | Think Beyond the Room: Measuring Relative Humidity in the Home Cage and Its Impact on Reproduction in Laboratory Mice, <i>Mus musculus</i> |
| title_full_unstemmed | Think Beyond the Room: Measuring Relative Humidity in the Home Cage and Its Impact on Reproduction in Laboratory Mice, <i>Mus musculus</i> |
| title_short | Think Beyond the Room: Measuring Relative Humidity in the Home Cage and Its Impact on Reproduction in Laboratory Mice, <i>Mus musculus</i> |
| title_sort | think beyond the room measuring relative humidity in the home cage and its impact on reproduction in laboratory mice i mus musculus i |
| topic | relative humidity extrinsic factor laboratory mouse animal welfare mouse reproduction animal husbandry |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/14/22/3164 |
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