The Preclinical Research Unit (PRU) provides technicians who are proficient at a wide variety of injection and dosing techniques. Whenever possible all solutions should be pharmaceutical grade. All parenteral injections can be performed without anesthesia and the recommended volumes listed are specifically for mice.<\/p>\n
It is always suggested to contact the PRU prior to attempting administration yourself if you are unskilled at a procedure. Unskilled dosing and injection can cause a wide variety of adverse effects including inefficacy of your model and\/or chronic health issues in your animals.<\/p>\n
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Intravenous<\/strong>\u00a0injections (IV)\u00a0in rodents are via the tail vein and\u00a0are most commonly used for dosing compounds that are poorly absorbed by the digestive tract,\u00a0or for use in bone marrow transplants.\u00a0The recommended volume for injection is 5.0ml\/kg.<\/p>\n Intravenous Catheters\u00a0<\/strong>are used for continuous infusion\u00a0via an\u00a0electronic infusion pump\u00a0during\u00a0ultrasound or\u00a0other imaging procedures.\u00a0We\u00a0typically\u00a0use modified butterfly catheters\u00a0with 27-30g needles\u00a0for infusion.<\/p>\n Intraperitoneal<\/strong> injections (IP) are very commonly performed in rodents and allow for the safe injection of larger volumes. Absorption of solutions is typically much slower than for IV injections. While IP injections appear to be a technically simple technique to perform, the PRU trains and monitors the competency of our technicians to ensure the substances are delivered accurately. The recommended volume for injection is 10ml\/kg.<\/p>\n Subcutaneous\u00a0<\/strong>injections (SC) are a rapid and simple method of parenteral substance administration. The rate of absorption is slower than other parenteral routes, but can be used for a wide variety of substances including cells for tumor formation (link coming soon), aqueous or oily fluids, depots of oily materials, and solid pellets (link coming soon). Performing SC injections correctly is critical for avoiding early ulcerations following tumor cell injections. The recommended volume for injection is 5ml\/kg. Smaller and larger volumes can be used.<\/p>\n Intramuscular<\/strong>\u00a0injections (IM)\u00a0are administered in the thigh muscles of the hind limbs.\u00a0Due to\u00a0small muscle mass in rodents, administering smaller volumes over multiple injection sites is recommended to minimize adverse reactions.\u00a0Irritating\u00a0substances\u00a0should be avoided.\u00a0The recommended volume for\u00a0injection\u00a0is 25ul per site with a maximum volume of 50ul per site.<\/p>\n Intradermal\u00a0<\/strong>injections (ID)\u00a0are commonly\u00a0used\u00a0for vaccine administration.\u00a0Administering smaller volumes over multiple injection sites is recommended to minimize adverse reactions.\u00a0An injection volume of 50ul or less per site is recommended.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Oral Gavage<\/strong> (OG) is one of our most commonly requested techniques as it requires moderate skill and consistency. Gavage can be performed for long-term oral dosing, including qd and bid schedules. The recommended volume for dosing via oral gavage is 5ml\/kg.<\/p>\n Intra-tumoral<\/strong>\u00a0injections are performed for local delivery of solutions in tumor modeling.\u00a0The\u00a0needle\u00a0entry site should be\u00a0away from the tumor to avoid\u00a0early ulceration of the tumor.\u00a0The recommended injection volume is 100ul per\u00a0tumor but\u00a0is also tumor size dependent.<\/p>\n Neo-natal Facial Vein<\/strong>\u00a0injections are used\u00a0for early onset models of\u00a0pediatric disease\u00a0and for delivery of adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors.\u00a0The\u00a0temporal\u00a0facial vein can be injected with volumes up to 50ul\u00a0from\u00a0P0-P2.<\/p>\n Retro-orbital\u00a0<\/strong>injections\u00a0(RO)\u00a0allow access to the venous sinus as an alternative to IV injections.\u00a0RO injections require scientific justification\u00a0and the use of anesthesia unless otherwise\u00a0contraindicated.\u00a0 A\u00a0maximum of two injections per eye\u00a0and a maximum volume of 150ul per injection\u00a0is permitted.<\/p>\n Intra-nasal\u00a0<\/strong>instillations\u00a0are\u00a0an effective, noninvasive way\u00a0to deliver substances to the upper and lower respiratory tracts.\u00a0This technique is typically used for the delivery of\u00a0allergens, drugs, gene therapy, immunotherapy and\u00a0pathogens\u00a0and requires anesthesia.\u00a0Volumes for dosing\u00a0range from 5-125ul with larger volumes being administered\u00a0in two doses.<\/p>\n Intratracheal Instillation\u00a0<\/strong>requires\u00a0sedation\u00a0and the use of\u00a0small volumes to prevent adverse reactions.\u00a0Instillations can be achieved through a modified\u00a0intubation\u00a0procedure or\u00a0via a surgical approach which allows direct injection of the trachea.<\/p>\n Footpad<\/strong>\u00a0injections\u00a0are a combination of an ID and SC injection that is utilized\u00a0primarily\u00a0in models of immunization and inflammation.\u00a0The use of small gauge needles and small volumes\u00a0(less than 50ul)\u00a0are recommended for injection of\u00a0a single hind paw.\u00a0Footpad injections require scientific justification and\u00a0veterinary consultation.<\/p>\n Feed Administration\u202f<\/span><\/span>can be performed for drug administration, obesity modeling, or for immune-compromised models that require\u00a0<\/span>specialized diets for health maintenance. The<\/span><\/span>\u00a0PRU<\/span><\/span>\u00a0offers feed administration when it is part of a larger study that requires other monitoring and techniques.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Stereotaxic Brain Administration<\/strong> is covered in more detail here<\/a>. We can perform direct brain injection of cells, virus and other solutions using a KOPF stereotaxic frame\u00a0and a Stoelting Quintessential Stereotaxic Injector to inject a wide range of volumes at exact perfusion rates.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Other\u00a0Administration Routes<\/h2>\n