Nest building behavior has been intensely applied as a parameter for severity assessment in mice. In contrast, only a limited number of studies have reported nest building data from rats. Here, we assessed nest building in rats in two different facilities addressing the hypotheses that the vendor, previous experience with the nesting material as well as sex of the rats has an impact on the performance. Data from two study sites and three raters were compared to obtain information about the robustness of nest complexity scoring. The findings demonstrate a generally poor nest building performance in rats with a pronounced day-to-day fluctuation, and site-specific differences. Application of a newly developed scoring system resulted in an intermediate inter-rater reliability. Previous experience with the nesting material did not exert a consistent impact on nest complexity scores. Sex differences proved to depend on vendor and animal facility without consistent findings supporting a superior performance in female or male rats. In conclusion, our findings argue against a robust and consistent influence of sex and familiarity with the nesting material. The comparison between facilities suggests that local conditions need to be considered as influencing factors, which should be explored in more detail by future multicenter approaches. Considering the day-to-day fluctuation and the intermediate inter-rater reliability, we highly recommend to base nest complexity evaluation on means from several subsequent days analyzed by a group of experienced raters.

Objective: Ethical decisions about an allowance for animal experiments need to be based on scientifically sound information about the burden and distress associated with the experimental procedure and models. Thereby, species differences need to be considered for recommendations regarding evidence-based severity assessment and refinement measures. Methods: A comprehensive analysis of behavioral patterns and corticosterone or its metabolites in serum and feces was completed in kindled mice. The impact of kindling via two different stimulation sites in the amygdala and hippocampus was determined. Data were compared to those from naive and electrodeimplanted groups. Results: Amygdala and hippocampus kindled mice exhibited comparable behavioral patterns with increased activity in the open field, reduced anxiety-associated behavior in the elevated-plus maze, and increased anhedonia-associated behavior in the saccharin preference test. In addition, repeated stimulation of the hippocampus caused a reduction in burrowing behavior and an increase in active social interaction. Levels of corticosterone and its metabolites were not altered in serum or feces, respectively. A comparison of mouse data with findings from amygdala kindled rats confirmed pronounced species differences in behavioral patterns associated with the kindling process. Significance: Taken together the findings suggest a severity classification for the mouse kindling paradigms as moderate regardless of the stimulation site. The outcome of the species comparison provides valuable guidance for species selection for studies exploring behavioral comorbidities. In this context, it is emphasized that the mouse kindling paradigms seem to be well suited for studies exploring the link between ictal events and network alterations on the one hand, and hyperactivity and anhedoniaassociated behavior on the other hand. Moreover, the underlying pathophysiological mechanisms and the impact of therapeutic interventions on these behavioral alterations can be studied in these paradigms providing guidance for the clinical management of respective psychiatric comorbidities in patients.

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