Background

Multiple sclerosis is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by myelin loss in the brain parenchyma. To mimic the disease, mice are fed a cuprizone-supplemented diet for 5 weeks, which leads to demyelination of white and grey matter regions, with the corpus callosum being the most susceptible to cuprizone intoxication. Although this model is highly exploited, classical behavioural tests showed inconsistent results.

Objective

In our study, we aimed to use the automated system Intellicage to phenotype the behaviour of cuprizone-fed mice.

Methods

Mice were continuously monitored during the 5 weeks of treatment in their home cages, with minimal interference from the experimenter. Mice were assessed for spontaneous activity, fine movements, and impulsivity.

Results

Consistently, cuprizone-fed mice showed reduced activity and impulsivity throughout the test period. These behavioral results were confirmed by repeating the battery of behavioral tests in a second cohort of cuprizone-fed mice. Our results suggest that the behavioural phenotyping of cuprizone-fed mice using Intellicage is reproducible and sensitive enough to detect changes normally missed in standard behavioral test batteries.

Conclusion

Using a reproducible and standardized method to assess behavioral changes in mice intoxicated with cuprizone is crucial to better understand the disease as well as the functional outcome of treatments.

中文翻译：

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Intellicage 系统提供了一种可重现的标准化方法来评估铜宗诱导的脱髓鞘小鼠模型的行为变化

背景

多发性硬化症是一种神经退行性疾病，其特征是脑实质中的髓鞘丢失。为了模拟这种疾病，给小鼠喂食补充铜宗的饮食 5 周，这会导致白质和灰质区域脱髓鞘，其中胼胝体最容易受到铜宗中毒的影响。尽管该模型被高度利用，但经典行为测试显示出不一致的结果。

客观的

在我们的研究中，我们旨在使用自动化系统 Intellicage 对铜宗喂养小鼠的行为进行表型分析。

方法

在 5 周的治疗期间，小鼠在它们的家笼中被连续监测，实验者的干扰最小。评估小鼠的自发活动、精细运动和冲动。

结果

一致地，铜宗喂养的小鼠在整个测试期间表现出减少的活动和冲动。通过在第二组铜宗喂养小鼠中重复一系列行为测试，证实了这些行为结果。我们的结果表明，使用 Intellicage 对铜宗喂养小鼠的行为表型具有可重复性和灵敏度，足以检测标准行为测试电池中通常会遗漏的变化。

结论

使用可重复和标准化的方法来评估铜宗中毒小鼠的行为变化对于更好地了解疾病以及治疗的功能结果至关重要。