Walker Michael, Mason Georgia
Animal Biosciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario N1G 2W1, Canada.
Animal Biosciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario N1G 2W1, Canada.
Physiol Behav. 2018 Jul 1;191:82-90. doi: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2018.04.006. Epub 2018 Apr 10.
Voluntary wheel running occurs in mice of all strains, sexes, and ages. Mice find voluntary wheel running rewarding, and it leads to numerous health benefits. For this reason wheels are used both to enhance welfare and to create models of exercise. However, many designs of running wheel are used. This makes between-study comparisons difficult, as this variability could potentially affect the amount, pattern, and/or intensity of running behaviour, and thence the wheels' effects on welfare and exercise-related changes in anatomy and physiology. This study therefore evaluated two commercially available models, chosen because safe for group-housed mice: Bio Serv®'s "fast-trac" wheel combo and Ware Manufacturing Inc.'s stainless steel mesh 5″ upright wheel. Working with a total of three hundred and fifty one female C57BL/6, DBA/2 and BALB/c mice, we assessed these wheels' relative utilization by mice when access was free; the strength of motivation for each wheel-type when access required crossing an electrified grid; and the impact each wheel had on mouse well-being (inferred from acoustic startle responses and neophobia) and exercise-related anatomical changes (BMI; heart and hind limb masses). Mice ran more on the "fast-trac" wheel regardless of whether both wheel-types were available at once, or only if one was present. In terms of motivation, subjects required to work to access a single wheel worked equally hard for both wheel-types (even if locked and thus not useable for running), but if provided with one working wheel for free and the other type of wheel (again unlocked) accessible via crossing the electrified grid, the "fast-trac" wheel emerged as more motivating, as the Maximum Price Paid for the Ware metal wheel was lower than that paid for the "fast-trac" plastic wheel, at least for C57BL/6s and DBA/2s. No deleterious consequences were noted with either wheel in terms of health and welfare, but only mice with plastic wheels developed significantly larger hearts and hind limbs than control animals with locked wheels. Thus, where differences emerged, Bio Serv®'s "fast-trac" wheel combos appeared to better meet the aims of exercise provision than Ware Manufacturing's steel upright wheels.
所有品系、性别和年龄的小鼠都会自主进行转轮运动。小鼠发现自主转轮运动有益，且这会带来诸多健康益处。因此，转轮既被用于提升福利，也被用于创建运动模型。然而，使用的转轮设计多种多样。这使得研究间的比较变得困难，因为这种变异性可能会潜在地影响跑步行为的量、模式和/或强度，进而影响转轮对福利以及解剖学和生理学上与运动相关变化的影响。因此，本研究评估了两种市售型号，选择它们是因为对群居小鼠安全：Bio Serv®的“快速追踪”转轮组合和Ware Manufacturing Inc.的不锈钢网5英寸直立式转轮。我们总共使用了351只雌性C57BL/6、DBA/2和BALB/c小鼠，评估了在自由使用时小鼠对这些转轮的相对利用率；当需要穿过带电网格才能使用时，每种转轮类型的动机强度；以及每种转轮对小鼠幸福感（从听觉惊吓反应和新物恐惧症推断）和与运动相关的解剖学变化（体重指数；心脏和后肢质量）的影响。无论两种转轮类型是同时可用，还是仅有一种存在，小鼠在“快速追踪”转轮上跑得更多。在动机方面，需要努力才能使用单个转轮的实验对象对两种转轮类型的努力程度相同（即使转轮被锁定因而无法用于跑步），但如果免费提供一个可用的转轮，而另一种类型的转轮（同样未锁定）需要穿过带电网格才能使用，“快速追踪”转轮显得更具吸引力，因为为Ware金属转轮支付的最高价格低于为“快速追踪”塑料转轮支付的价格，至少对于C57BL/6和DBA/2小鼠是这样。就健康和福利而言，两种转轮均未发现有害后果，但只有使用塑料转轮的小鼠的心脏和后肢比使用锁定转轮的对照动物显著更大。因此，在出现差异的地方，Bio Serv®的“快速追踪”转轮组合似乎比Ware Manufacturing的钢制直立式转轮更能满足提供运动的目标。
