I plan to use BALB/c mice for studying pneumonia caused by the mouse-adapted influenza virus (A/PR8/H1N1).
I want to know, what is the requirement to determine the sex of an animal? It seems that most of them choose female mice, but there are also researchers who use half male and female mice. What is the difference between them? Does the sex of the mouse have a significant impact on the final result?
One of the main issues using male mice (and housing several in the same cage) is that they tend to fight with each other. If this occurs, they need to be separated and placed into individual cages. This could certainly impact the results of your study.
I don't think the sex of the mouse has a significant impact on the final results of the study, but a mixture is always desirable while taking into account the problems related to the behaviors of the mice as described by Areya Tabatabai
Hello Yu-Ru Tong
The outcome and severity of infection is affected by host factors, and sex of mouse is one of the factors.
Please refer to the articles attached for more information.
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2018.01747/full
Article Mechanisms of sex disparities in influenza pathogenesis
Best.
I would also recommend to mix 1:1, as indicated, gender plays a significant role, specifically as well as in general with regard to inflammation.
- Badges
- Science method