Rat grip strength meter

Fore-limb grip strength was measured as maximum tensile force every three months for males and monthly for females using a rat Grip Strength Meter (Columbus Instruments, Columbus, OH) with a sensor range of 0–5,000grams (g), and accuracy of 0.15% [39 ]. The maximum of three pulls of the Grip Strength Meter conducted between 9am and 11am was recorded; the test was performed daily over three consecutive days and the resulting three daily maximum values were averaged.

At the end of instrumental testing, motor balance and coordination were evaluated with a rotarod (Ugo Basile, Italy). Rats were trained on the rotating rod at a fixed speed of 4 rpm for 3 trials until they stayed on the rod for at least 2 min. On the following days, the speed increased from 4 to 50 rpm within 5 min. Each animal had three trials of testing on two separate days with a resting period of at least 2 min between each trial. The time the animal spent on the rotarod was measured as latency to fall and the average of the six trials was considered per rat.
Forelimb grip strength was measured after the rotarod test as maximum tensile force using a rat grip strength meter (Columbus Instruments, Columbus, USA) with a sensor range of 0–5,000 g, and accuracy of 0.15%. Ten trials per rat were recorded and the average of the highest 5 pulls of the grip strength meter was recorded for each animal.

Fore-limb grip strength was measured as maximum tensile force using a rat Grip Strength Meter (Columbus Instruments, Columbus, OH) with a sensor range of 0–5,000 grams (g) and accuracy of 0.15%. The maximum of three pulls of the Grip Strength Meter conducted between 9 AM and 11 AM was recorded; the test was performed daily over three consecutive days and the resulting three daily maximum values were averaged [15 (link)].