A comprehensive laboratory animal monitoring system (Columbus Instruments, Columbus, OH) was used to measure the metabolic gases, every 18 minutes, in a separate cohort of mice. The mice were acclimatized to cages for 24 hours, after which oxygen consumption, carbon dioxide production, and respiratory exchange ratio (RER) were measured for a further 48 hours. The mice were then treated for a further 14 days. Energy expenditure was analyzed using analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) using body weight as a covariate (27 (link)) and as hourly averages normalized to body weight. The RER data were plotted as hourly averages and normalized to body weight. The mice kept in the comprehensive laboratory animal monitoring system cages showed phenotypic changes with corticosterone treatment identical to those of the mice kept in home cages.
Free full text: Click here
