title: Reversed light-dark cycle and cage enrichment effects on ethanol-induced deficits in motor coordination assessed in inbred mouse strains with a compact battery of refined tests.
abstract: The laboratory environment existing outside the test situation itself can have a substantial influence on results of some behavioral tests with mice, and the extent of these influences sometimes depends on genotype. For alcohol research, the principal issue is whether genotype-related ethanol effects will themselves be altered by common variations in the lab environment or instead will be essentially the same across a wide range of lab environments. Data from 20 inbred strains were used to reduce an original battery of seven tests of alcohol intoxication to a compact battery of four tests: the balance beam and grip strength with a 1.25 g/kg ethanol dose and the accelerating rotarod and open-field activation tests with 1.75 g/kg. The abbreviated battery was then used to study eight inbred strains housed under a normal or reversed light-dark cycle, or a standard or enriched home cage environment. The light-dark cycle had no discernable effects on any measure of behavior or response to alcohol. Cage enrichment markedly improved motor coordination in most strains. Ethanol-induced motor coordination deficits were robust; the well-documented strain-dependent effects of ethanol were not altered by cage enrichment.
authors.affiliation: Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research and Department of Biological Sciences, University of Windsor, Windsor, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Munn
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bunning
authors.forename: Sofia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Prada
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bohlen
authors.forename: John C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Crabbe
authors.forename: Douglas
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wahlsten
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001259:Ataxia / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000523:psychology; D002492:Central Nervous System Depressants / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002940:Circadian Rhythm / Q000502:physiology; D003627:Data Interpretation, Statistical; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004777:Environment; D000431:Ethanol / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005260:Female; D018737:Hand Strength / Q000502:physiology; D007035:Hypothermia / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008815:Mice, Inbred Strains; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000187:drug effects; D017440:Photoperiod; D004856:Postural Balance / Q000187:drug effects; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D014732:Vibration
chemical_list: D002492:Central Nervous System Depressants; D000431:Ethanol