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Effects of different blood collection methods on indicators of welfare in mice

Lab Animal volume 44, pages 301–310 (2015)Cite this article

Abstract

Blood collection is a common experimental procedure for which there are many different methods, each with its own advantages and disadvantages. Researchers should use methods that minimize pain, suffering, distress and lasting harm to animals while meeting study requirements. The authors evaluated stress, activity and tissue damage in BALB/cO1aHsd mice after collecting blood using one of six methods: retrobulbar bleeding with thin or thick capillaries, tail vein bleeding, saphenous vein bleeding, facial vein bleeding or jugular vein bleeding. The authors compared in-cage activity, corticosterone concentration and performance in open-field tests between treatment groups and collected histologic samples at 1 h, 3 d and 14 d after bleeding. Mice that underwent retrobulbar bleeding with a thick capillary had a smaller change in corticosterone concentration and higher in-cage activity immediately after blood collection, whereas mice that underwent jugular vein bleeding had a greater change in corticosterone concentration and lower in-cage activity and open-field activity. Mice that underwent saphenous vein bleeding had a high incidence of histological change at 1 h, 3 d and 14 d after blood collection, but few indicators of histological change were present in other groups at 14 d after blood collection. These results suggest that, when collecting a small volume of blood, retrobulbar bleeding with a thick capillary and without anesthesia causes the least stress in mice, whereas jugular vein bleeding and facial vein bleeding cause the most stress and saphenous vein bleeding causes the most lasting damage in mice.

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Figure 1: Jugular vein bleeding.
Figure 2: Retrobulbar bleeding.
Figure 3: Tail vein bleeding.
Figure 4: Saphenous vein bleeding.
Figure 5: Facial vein bleeding.
Figure 6: Length of time spent on just the bleeding technique was significantly shorter for RBBA and FVB than for SVB and JVB and was significantly longer for TVB than for any other technique.
Figure 7: Average in-cage activity level was significantly lower for mice that underwent JVB and FVB than for all other groups.
Figure 8: Corticosterone concentration was significantly higher after treatment than before treatment for all treatment groups.
Figure 9: Latency to move toward the edge of the apparatus in the open-field test was significantly longer for mice that underwent JVB than for all other groups.
Figure 10: Total distance traveled in the open-field test was significantly shorter for mice that underwent JVB or FVB than for mice that underwent TVB or SVB, and mice that underwent JVB traveled significantly less than mice that underwent RBBA.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the institutes that sent their well-trained technicians or researchers to Hannover to participate in this study for their support. Parts of these results were presented as a poster at the 12th FELASA SECAL congress held 10–13 June 2013 in Barcelona, Spain.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Animal Welfare and Behaviour, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Hannover, Germany

    Ping-Ping Tsai,  Anja Schlichtig,  Evira Ziegler, Helge D. Stelzer &  Hansjoachim Hackbarth

  2. Fraunhofer Institute for Toxicology and Experimental Medicine, Hannover, Germany

    Heinrich Ernst

  3. Experimental Surgery, BioMed Centre, University Medical Centre Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany

    Jörg Haberstroh

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Correspondence to Hansjoachim Hackbarth.

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Tsai, PP., Schlichtig, A., Ziegler, E. et al. Effects of different blood collection methods on indicators of welfare in mice. Lab Anim 44, 301–310 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/laban.738

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