Time to include the gut microbiota in the hygienic standardisation of laboratory rodents

TY - JOUR

T1 - Time to include the gut microbiota in the hygienic standardisation of laboratory rodents

AU - Bleich, André

AU - Hansen, Axel Jacob Kornerup

PY - 2012/3

Y1 - 2012/3

N2 - The gut microbiota (GM) composition and its impact on animal experiments has become currently dramatically relevant in our days: (1) recent progress in metagenomic technologies, (2) the availability of large scale quantitative analyses to characterize even subtle phenotypes, (3) the limited diversity of laboratory rodent GM due to strict barriers at laboratory animal vendors, and (4) the availability of up to 300.000 different transgenic mouse strains from different sources displaying a huge variety in their GM composition. In this review the GM is described as a variable in animal experiments which need to be reduced for scientific as well as ethical reasons, and strategies how to implement this in routine diagnostic procedures are proposed. We conclude that we have both enough information available to state that the GM has an essential impact on animal models, as well as the methods available to start dealing with these impacts.

AB - The gut microbiota (GM) composition and its impact on animal experiments has become currently dramatically relevant in our days: (1) recent progress in metagenomic technologies, (2) the availability of large scale quantitative analyses to characterize even subtle phenotypes, (3) the limited diversity of laboratory rodent GM due to strict barriers at laboratory animal vendors, and (4) the availability of up to 300.000 different transgenic mouse strains from different sources displaying a huge variety in their GM composition. In this review the GM is described as a variable in animal experiments which need to be reduced for scientific as well as ethical reasons, and strategies how to implement this in routine diagnostic procedures are proposed. We conclude that we have both enough information available to state that the GM has an essential impact on animal models, as well as the methods available to start dealing with these impacts.

KW - Former LIFE faculty

KW - Gut microbiota

KW - Laboratory rodents

KW - Health monitoring

KW - Animal models

U2 - 10.1016/j.cimid.2011.12.006

DO - 10.1016/j.cimid.2011.12.006

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 22257867

SN - 0147-9571

VL - 35

SP - 81

EP - 92

JO - Comparative Immunology, Microbiology and Infectious Diseases

JF - Comparative Immunology, Microbiology and Infectious Diseases

IS - 2

ER -