Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Jeonbuk National University Medical School and Hospital, Jeonju, Republic of Korea.
Research Institute of Clinical Medicine, Jeonbuk National University, Jeonju, Republic of Korea.
In Vivo. 2021 Jul-Aug;35(4):2115-2125. doi: 10.21873/invivo.12481.
BACKGROUND/AIM: The mouse diarrhea score is usually determined by evaluating stool consistency and shape. Thus, defecated stools should be collected without damage or contamination. The study aimed to develop improved mouse stool collection methods and diarrhea-scoring criteria.
We developed improved stool collection methods (paper towel methods) and compared them with previously used ones (stool collection using regular cages containing bedding chips or filter paper and metabolic cages).
Compared to previously used methods, paper towel methods collected stools without bedding chips-induced contamination, mouse body/foot-induced damage, or sampling errors. When using paper towel methods, wet stools create water marks (diarrhea marks) on paper towels with strong water absorption capacity, by which diarrheal severity can be analyzed semi-quantitatively. To improve the objectivity in determining diarrhea scores, practical diarrhea-scoring criteria were also proposed.
These results would be helpful to researchers facing difficulties in evaluating the mouse diarrhea score.
背景/目的：通常通过评估粪便的稠度和形状来确定小鼠腹泻评分。因此，应在无损坏或污染的情况下收集粪便。本研究旨在开发改良的小鼠粪便收集方法和腹泻评分标准。
我们开发了改良的粪便收集方法（纸巾法），并将其与之前使用的方法（使用常规含有垫料屑或滤纸的笼子或代谢笼进行粪便收集）进行了比较。
与之前使用的方法相比，纸巾法收集的粪便没有垫料屑引起的污染、小鼠身体/脚部引起的损伤或采样误差。使用纸巾法时，湿性粪便会在吸水性强的纸巾上留下水渍（腹泻痕迹），通过这些痕迹可以对腹泻严重程度进行半定量分析。为了提高确定腹泻评分的客观性，还提出了实用的腹泻评分标准。
这些结果将有助于那些在评估小鼠腹泻评分方面遇到困难的研究人员。
