Metabolic Monitoring System for Animal Models & Imaging Facility.

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT The West Virginia University Animal Models & Imaging Facility is requesting support to purchase a Comprehensive Laboratory Animal Monitoring System (CLAMS) from Columbus Instruments. CLAMS is an indirect calorimetry system for individually housed mice and rats that measures multiple parameters pertaining to metabolism, including oxygen consumption and carbon dioxide production, XY activity and running wheel rotations, food and liquid consumption, sleeping bouts and body mass. Together, this system allows researchers to monitor energy expenditure in a variety of preclinical models. The AMIF currently has a 12-cage CLAMS system for analysis of mice. The users have been averaging over 550 hours in CLAMS per month, and none of them are able to get enough instrument time complete their NIH-funded projects. In addition, the current CLAMS is a mouse-only setup, so while investigators using rat models have a need for metabolic studies, this system cannot support their projects. Therefore, the Facility proposes to purchase a second CLAMS instrument to increase availability, support larger cohorts of animals and expand the capabilities for metabolic monitoring in rats to support and enhance the research capabilities at West Virginia University.