title: Bleeding the laboratory mouse: Not all methods are equal.
abstract: The laboratory mouse is the model most frequently used in hematologic studies and assessment of blood parameters across a broad range of disciplines. Often, analysis of blood occurs in a nonterminal manner. However, the small body size of the mouse limits collection based on volume, frequency, and accessible sites. Commonly used sites in the mouse include the retro-orbital sinus, facial vein, tail vein, saphenous vein, and heart. The method of blood acquisition varies considerably across laboratories and is often not reported in detail. In this study, we report significant alterations in blood parameters, particularly of total white blood cells, specific populations of dendritic cells and myeloid-derived suppressor cells, and hematopoietic progenitor cells, as a result of site and manner of sampling. Intriguingly, warming of mice prior to tail bleeding was found to significantly alter blood values. Our findings suggest that the same method should be used across an entire study, that mice should be warmed prior to tail bleeds to make levels uniform, and that accurate description of bleeding methods in publications should be provided to allow for interpretation of comparative reports and inter- and intralaboratory experimental variability.
authors.affiliation: Cancer Center/Center for Transplantation Sciences, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA. Electronic address: hoggatt.jonathan@mgh.harvard.edu.
authors.forename: Jonathan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hoggatt
authors.affiliation: Center for Comparative Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.
authors.forename: Amber F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Hoggatt
authors.affiliation: Cancer Center/Center for Transplantation Sciences, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.
authors.forename: Tiffany A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Tate
authors.affiliation: Biologic Resources Laboratory, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL.
authors.forename: Jeffrey
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fortman
authors.affiliation: Microbiology and Immunology, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN. Electronic address: lpelus@iupui.edu.
authors.forename: Louis M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Pelus
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000830:Animals, Laboratory; D001769:Blood; D051379:Mice; D013048:Specimen Handling