title: Behavioral, clinical and pathological effects of multiple daily intraperitoneal injections on female mice.
abstract: Pharmacological agents are commonly administered to mice through multiple intraperitoneal (i.p.) injections. The i.p. route of administration is usually considered safe, but questions of animal welfare arise when protocols require that multiple injections be given to the same animal. IACUCs must consider the potential risks associated with multiple i.p. injections in order to determine the maximum number of injections an animal can receive within a study protocol, but there are no published studies of such potential risks. The authors investigated the effects of 30 daily i.p. saline injections on the behavior, body condition, weight, fecal corticosterone levels, hematology and pathology of female adult mice. Results indicate that multiple i.p. injections do not cause any ill effects in mice.
authors.affiliation: Division of Animal Resources, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA.
authors.forename: Jennifer N
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Davis
authors.affiliation: Division of Pathology, Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA.
authors.forename: Cynthia L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Courtney
authors.affiliation: Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA.
authors.forename: Hillary
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Superak
authors.affiliation: Division of Animal Resources, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA.
authors.forename: Douglas K
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Taylor
mesh_terms: D000827:Animal Welfare; D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000187:drug effects*; D001772:Blood Cell Count; D001823:Body Composition / Q000187:drug effects; D003345:Corticosterone / Q000378:metabolism; D005243:Feces / Q000737:chemistry; D005260:Female; D007274:Injections, Intraperitoneal / Q000009:adverse effects*; D051379:Mice / Q000097:blood / Q000502:physiology*; D008817:Mice, Mutant Strains; D011897:Random Allocation; D012965:Sodium Chloride / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D012965:Sodium Chloride; D003345:Corticosterone