Measuring the lung function in the mouse: the challenge of size

Abstract

Measurement of the effects of drugs, mediators and infectious agents on various models of lung disease, as well as assessment of lung function in the intact mouse has the potential for significantly advancing our knowledge of lung disease. However, the small size of the mouse presents significant challenges for the assessment of lung function. Because of compromises made between precision and noninvasiveness, data obtained may have an uncertain bearing on the mechanical response of the lung. Nevertheless, considerable recent progress has been made in developing valid and useful measures of mouse lung function. These advances, resulting in our current ability to measure sophisticated indices of lung function in laboratory animals, are likely to lead to important insights into the mechanisms of lung disease.

High Tidal Volume Ventilation Is Not Deleterious in Infant Rats Exposed to Severe Hemorrhage

“…The linear increase in H is compatible with a progressive loss of lung volume as a result of progressive airway closure [22][23][24] that was not prevented by a PEEP of 5 cmH 2 O. In rats ventilated with low V T neither V T nor peak P ao was probably high enough to reopen atelectatic lung units and reverse the increase in H over time.…”

Emphysema diagnosis using X-ray dark-field imaging at a laser-driven compact synchrotron light source

“…35, assuming an electron density difference of Δρ e = 3.4997 × 10 2 nm −3 (16), a constant volume fraction of 0.5, and a sample thickness of 7 mm. A change in sphere diameter from 80 μm, corresponding to the mean alveoli diameter in healthy mice (37), to 90 μm results in a 25% visibility increase from V = 0.12 to V = 0.15. We conclude that subtle changes in alveoli diameter during early stages of emphysema are likely to appear in the dark-field image without any significant signature in absorption contrast.…”

3He MRI in mouse models of asthma

“…These powerful capabilities to create and modify disease generate an equally strong demand for methods to evaluate the associated physiological phenotype. Common methods to assess lung function in small animals rely on inducing bronchoconstriction with methacholine (MCh) and measuring the resultant changes in airway pressure or resistance (1,2). Unfortunately, such metrics, which provide only global lung function information, cannot answer many of the most critical questions.…”