PMID- 27788633 OWN - NLM STAT- MEDLINE DCOM- 20180109 LR - 20181202 IS - 1607-8888 (Electronic) IS - 1025-3890 (Linking) VI - 20 IP - 1 DP - 2017 Jan TI - Light and water are not simple conditions: fine tuning of animal housing in male C57BL/6 mice. PG - 10-18 LID - 10.1080/10253890.2016.1254186 [doi] AB - While animal housing conditions are highly controlled and standardized between different laboratories, there are still many subtle differences that unavoidably influence the host organisms and, consequently, interlaboratory reproducibility. Here, we investigated the physiological and immunological consequences between two light/dark cycle (LDC) lengths (14-h/10-h vs. 12-h/12-h LDC) and two commonly used forms of drinking water (acidified drinking water (AW) versus normal tap water (NW)) in single-housed (SH) mice. Our results indicate that SH mice bred under a 12-h/12-h LDC and NW at the supplier's facility showed increased basal morning plasma corticosterone (CORT) levels even 4 weeks after arrival at our animal facility employing a 14-h/10-h LDC and AW. This effect was even more pronounced two weeks after arrival and had abated after 8 weeks. In agreement, increased plasma adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), adrenal in vitro ACTH sensitivity, as well as relative and absolute adrenal weight normalized during this 8-week exposure to the novel and unfamiliar 14-h/10-h LDC and AW. Employment of a 12-h/12-h LDC in our facility completely abrogated the CORT-elevating effects of the 14-h/10-h LDC, despite these animals drinking AW. When both the water and light conditions were matched to those at the supplier's facility, we observed a further reduction in adrenal weight, increased thymus weight, and decreased pro-inflammatory cytokine secretion of isolated and anti-CD3/28-stimulated mesenteric lymph node cells. In summary, our results indicate that prolonged alteration of both the light phase and drinking water represent severe and long-lasting stressors for laboratory rodents. These findings are of general interest for all scientists obtaining their experimental animals from conventional suppliers. FAU - Langgartner, Dominik AU - Langgartner D AD - a Laboratory for Molecular Psychosomatics, Clinic for Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy , University Ulm , Ulm , Germany. FAU - Foertsch, Sandra AU - Foertsch S AD - a Laboratory for Molecular Psychosomatics, Clinic for Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy , University Ulm , Ulm , Germany. FAU - Fuchsl, Andrea M AU - Fuchsl AM AD - a Laboratory for Molecular Psychosomatics, Clinic for Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy , University Ulm , Ulm , Germany. FAU - Reber, Stefan O AU - Reber SO AD - a Laboratory for Molecular Psychosomatics, Clinic for Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy , University Ulm , Ulm , Germany. LA - eng PT - Journal Article DEP - 20161122 PL - England TA - Stress JT - Stress (Amsterdam, Netherlands) JID - 9617529 RN - 059QF0KO0R (Water) RN - 9002-60-2 (Adrenocorticotropic Hormone) RN - W980KJ009P (Corticosterone) SB - IM MH - Adrenal Glands/metabolism MH - Adrenocorticotropic Hormone/*blood MH - Animals MH - Corticosterone/*blood MH - *Housing, Animal MH - Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System/metabolism MH - Lighting MH - Male MH - Mice MH - Mice, Inbred C57BL MH - *Photoperiod MH - Pituitary-Adrenal System/metabolism MH - Reproducibility of Results MH - *Water OTO - NOTNLM OT - Experimental reproducibility OT - acidified drinking water OT - animal housing OT - elevated plasma corticosterone OT - inflammation OT - light/dark cycle EDAT- 2016/10/30 06:00 MHDA- 2018/01/10 06:00 CRDT- 2016/10/30 06:00 PHST- 2016/10/30 06:00 [pubmed] PHST- 2018/01/10 06:00 [medline] PHST- 2016/10/30 06:00 [entrez] AID - 10.1080/10253890.2016.1254186 [doi] PST - ppublish SO - Stress. 2017 Jan;20(1):10-18. doi: 10.1080/10253890.2016.1254186. Epub 2016 Nov 22.