PiDose: an open-source system for accurate and automated oral drug administration to group-housed mice.

ABSTRACT: Drug treatment studies in laboratory mice typically employ manual administration methods such as injection or gavage, which can be time-consuming to perform over long periods and cause substantial stress in animals. These stress responses may mask or enhance treatment effects, increasing the risk of false positive or negative results and decreasing reliability. To address the lack of an automated method for drug treatment in group-housed mice, we have developed PiDose, a home-cage attached device that weighs individual animals and administers a daily dosage of drug solution based on each animal's bodyweight through their drinking water. Group housed mice are identified through the use of RFID tagging and receive both regular water and drug solution drops by licking at a spout within the Pi

SUBMITTER: Woodard CL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7360602 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature