The vest-collar as a rodent collar to prevent licking and scratching during experiments

Yura Jang, Ye Eun Park, Cheol Won Yun, Dae Hyun Kim, Hesson Chung

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    11 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Various types of restraint collars have been used for research animals, and the Elizabethan collar (E-collar) is the most commonly used. However, animals can be choked by the E-collar or they tend to remove it; furthermore, repeated rubbing and scratching of the collar may chafe the neck. We developed a new restraint collar with a vest to overcome these limitations. The vest-collar (V-collar) can be worn similarly to a vest, in contrast to the E-collar, which is fixed around the neck. A cone-shaped collar is attached to the vest in the V-collar and is made of Eva foam to surround the chest softly, accompanied by a transparent polyvinyl chloride (PVC) film for visibility. To evaluate the performance of the V-collar, we conducted experiments with mice wearing the V-collar and the E-collar. Both groups showed normal weight gain and food intake. Glucose and stress hormone levels showed no significant differences, and no stress-associated leukocyte profiles were observed during the experiments. However, despite the short experimental duration, more than half of the mice in the E-collar group showed injury to the skin on the neck, with increased thickness of the epidermal and keratin layers. Moreover, inflammatory cell counts were higher in the E-collar group than in the V-collar group. In conclusion, the V-collar, in contrast to the E-collar, does not cause skin injuries in animals and is thus beneficial for animals and investigators. Investigators can effectively use the V-collar to enhance laboratory animal welfare.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)296-304
    Number of pages9
    JournalLaboratory Animals
    Volume50
    Issue number4
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2016 Aug

    Bibliographical note

    Publisher Copyright:
    © The Author(s) 2016.

    Keywords

    • Elizabethan collar
    • Laboratory animal
    • Mice
    • Restraint collar
    • Rodents
    • Vest-collar

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • Animal Science and Zoology
    • General Veterinary

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