Deschepper1 project protocol

Systolic blood pressure and multi-organ morphologic characterization in 13 inbred strains of mice   (2004)

Deschepper CF, Gallo-Payet N
With: Olson JL, Otis M, Picard S






This page describes protocols for: blood pressure, body weight and organ morphology. For more details, see Deschepper et al., 2004


Blood Pressure

Tail blood flow was evaluated photoelectronically with automated cuff inflation at random intervals as described by Krege et al., 1995.

Equipment: BP-2000 Blood Pressure Analysis System (Visitech Systems, Apex, NC, USA). This machine has four restraining units (dark metal tunnels open at one end) and a 37°C warming plate. Computer-automated tail cuffs inflate and deflate rapidly. Pressure is detected by a photo-resister cell below each tail, and data are recorded electronically.

Animal preparation: Following a 7-day acclimation period, mice were trained for 6 days on the equipment prior to testing.

Data collection: Tail cuffs were placed on the tails of each of four mice. Blood pressure was determined and recorded. Mice were tested over 2-3 days and 10 measurements per day were collected. The final systolic blood pressure value was computed as the average of 20-30 measurements.

Body weight and organ morphology

Mice were weighed after blood pressure determination on the day of sacrifice at 10 wks of age. Thymus, heart, kidneys, and both adrenals were collected. Hearts were dissected into four parts:
  • free wall of right ventricle (RV)
  • left ventricle including the interventricular septal wall (LV)
  • right atrium (RA)
  • left atrium (LA)
Organs or organ components were weighed individually. Weights were normalized by dividing by whole body weight to generate a weight index value.