[Changes in body weight, food and water intake, organ indices and tissue component parts with growth in the established inbred lines derived from the Japanese house mouse, Mus musculus molossinus].
Changes in body weight, food and water intake, organ indices and tissue component parts with growth in the inbred lines of the molossinus mouse were examined. The characteristic for the mouse is to be very small in body weight; the body weights linearly increased from neonatal period to 1 month and also increased with age, but became constant after 7 months (19.9 +/- 1.6 g) for male and 9 months (19.3 +/- 0.7 g) for female. Maximum body weight was 21.5 g for the male and 20.1 g for the female. Food and water intake per g in body weight rapidly decreased from 1 to 6 months and became constant in the later months and levels of both intakes for females were significantly higher than for males after 6 months. Organ indices (g/body weight) of liver and lung in the later months were higher than in the earlier stage, but heart index was constant in all ages. The curve of splenic index showed an exceptional pattern, in which the lowest level appeared at 3 months. Renal index was larger in the male than in the female, but number of glomerulus in renal cortex was significantly greater in the female more than in the male at all ages. Testicular index increased until 3 months and decreased in the later stage, and the percent of seminiferous epithelium was larger at 3 months than at the other ages. Thymic index successively decreased with age; the occupied area of the cortex declined, but conversely the connective tissue and fat increased with thymic involution.
Department of Cell Biology, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology, Japan.
T A
TA
Nomaguchi
Y
Y
Sakurai
D000273:Adipose Tissue; D000375:Aging; D000818:Animals; D001835:Body Weight; D004326:Drinking; D004435:Eating; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice / Q000235:genetics*; D008815:Mice, Inbred Strains / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development*; D009929:Organ Size