I'll need to take blood in weekly manner in order to evaluate glucose levels. I'll appreciate, if anyone can share experience which method will be less stressful for animals. The mice have to be followed during 10-12 weeks.
Thank you in advance,
Tamar
I hope this will be helpful for you:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3043327/
Hi,
I agree with Dr. Parasuraman, if I may add, to be safe in Blood Sugar readings, and to ensure that your blood samples are not diluted to start with, a total blood protein level reading sometimes needed ( protein blood level are constant enough with fasting ard gives a reference that your different Blood sugar reading are not blood sample dilution related.
best of luck
Submandibular bleeds have worked the best. It is the least invasive and does not require anesthesia http://www.medipoint.com/html/for_use_on_mice.html
We have had success taking weekly glucose levels using much less invasive measures. We simply wrap the mouse in a towel with the tail exposed. After cleansing the tail, we make a very small nick in the tip of the tail with a #11 scalpel blade. This produces enough blood to get glucose measures in triplicate with a standard glucose meter. Pressure or a styptic powder may be used to aid in coagulation. This method does not require anesthesia and the animals can be acclimated to the light towel restraint beforehand to minimize stress. We have had no problems with wound healing or getting approval from institutional animal care boards.