BLOOD GLUCOSE LEVEL IN MICE.

Abstract

Multiple serial blood glucose level determinations in individual mice were performed on small blood samples (10-25 [mu]l) using the orbital bleeding technique. Glucose was determined specifically by a known enzymatic reaction. Blood glucose determined in this way was found a parameter of high reproducibility and precision, the latter being shown by the finding that differences between individual animals were highly significant in practically all the experiments. The standard deviation of the single measurement in normal mice was [plus or minus] 8.2 mg/100 ml as determined from 600 samples, which indicated that the technique allows of the detection of blood sugar level changes of about 15 mg/100 ml or more with very high significance, in a group of 5 mice. In the sampling procedure as such, intravenous or subcutaneous saline injections did not necessarily have any effect on the blood glucose level, but interpretation of slight blood sugar changes under experimental conditions should always be based on a comparison with control groups, since the latter may sometimes show a slight but significant change. In normal non-fasting mice (NMRI strain) significant differences in homoeostatic blood glucose level adjustments were demonstrated. In acutely adrenalectomized mice blood glucose levels were lower and more variable than in normals. Alloxan injection (70 mg/kg) was followed in individual mice by a triphasic blood sugar response, as is known from other species.