title: Clinical Chemistry Reference Intervals for C57BL/6J, C57BL/6N, and C3HeB/FeJ Mice (Mus musculus).
abstract: Although various mouse inbred strains are widely used to investigate disease mechanisms and to establish new therapeutic strategies, sex-specific reference intervals for laboratory diagnostic analytes that are generated from large numbers of animals have been unavailable. In this retrospective study, we screened data from more than 12,000 mice phenotyped in the German Mouse Clinic from January 2006 through June 2014 and selected animals with the genetic background of C57BL/6J, C57BL/6N, or C3HeB/FeJ. In addition, we distinguished between the C57BL/6NTac substrain and C57BL/6N mice received from other vendors. The corresponding data sets of electrolytes (sodium, potassium, calcium, chloride, inorganic phosphate), lipids (cholesterol, triglyceride), and enzyme activities (ALT, AST, ALP, α-amylase) and urea, albumin, and total protein levels were analyzed. Significant effects of age and sex on these analytes were identified, and strain- or substrain- and sex-specific reference intervals for 90- to 135-d-old mice were calculated. In addition, we include an overview of the literature that reports clinical chemistry values for wild-type mice of different strains. Our results support researchers interpreting clinical chemistry values from various mouse mutants and corresponding wild-type controls based on the examined strains and substrains.
authors.affiliation: Center for Sepsis Control and Care and Clinic for Anesthesiology and Intensive Care, Jena University Hospital, Jena, Germany; German Mouse Clinic, Institute of Experimental Genetics, Helmholtz Zentrum Muenchen, German Research Center for Environmental Health, Neuherberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Gordon P
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Otto
authors.affiliation: German Mouse Clinic, Institute of Experimental Genetics, Helmholtz Zentrum Muenchen, Germany; German Research Center for Environmental Health, Neuherberg, Germany; Molecular Animal Breeding and Biotechnology, Gene Center, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet Muenchen, Munich, Germany; German Center for Diabetes Research, Neuherberg, Germany. birgit.rathkolb@helmholtz-muenchen.de.
authors.forename: Birgit
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Rathkolb
authors.affiliation: German Mouse Clinic, Institute of Experimental Genetics, Helmholtz Zentrum Muenchen, Germany; German Research Center for Environmental Health, Neuherberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Manuela A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Oestereicher
authors.affiliation: German Mouse Clinic, Institute of Experimental Genetics, Helmholtz Zentrum Muenchen, Germany; German Research Center for Environmental Health, Neuherberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Christoph J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Lengger
authors.affiliation: German Mouse Clinic, Institute of Experimental Genetics, Helmholtz Zentrum Muenchen, Germany; German Research Center for Environmental Health, Neuherberg, Germany; Molecular Animal Breeding and Biotechnology, Gene Center, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet Muenchen, Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: Corinna
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Moerth
authors.affiliation: German Mouse Clinic, Institute of Experimental Genetics, Helmholtz Zentrum Muenchen, Germany; German Research Center for Environmental Health, Neuherberg, Germany; Molecular Animal Breeding and Biotechnology, Gene Center, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet Muenchen, Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: Kateryna
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Micklich
authors.affiliation: German Mouse Clinic, Institute of Experimental Genetics, Helmholtz Zentrum Muenchen, Germany; German Research Center for Environmental Health, Neuherberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Helmut
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fuchs
authors.affiliation: German Mouse Clinic, Institute of Experimental Genetics, Helmholtz Zentrum Muenchen, Germany; German Research Center for Environmental Health, Neuherberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Valérie
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Gailus-Durner
authors.affiliation: Molecular Animal Breeding and Biotechnology, Gene Center, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet Muenchen, Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: Eckhard
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Wolf
authors.affiliation: German Mouse Clinic, Institute of Experimental Genetics, Helmholtz Zentrum Muenchen, Germany; German Research Center for Environmental Health, Neuherberg, Germany; German Center for Diabetes Research, Neuherberg, Germany; Experimental Genetics, Center of Life and Food Sciences, Weihenstephan, Technische Universitaet Muenchen, Freising-Weihenstephan, Germany.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hrabě de Angelis
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002624:Chemistry, Clinical / Q000592:standards*; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008809:Mice, Inbred C3H / Q000502:physiology*; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL / Q000502:physiology*; D010641:Phenotype; D012016:Reference Values; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012737:Sex Factors