Efficacious and safe orotracheal intubation for laboratory mice using slim torqueable guidewire-based technique: comparisons between a modified and a conventional method

Determination of reliable lung function parameters in intubated mice

Background

Animal models and, in particular, mice models, are important tools to investigate the pathogenesis of respiratory diseases and to test potential new therapeutic drugs. Lung function measurement is a key step in such investigation. In mice, it is usually performed using forced oscillation technique (FOT), negative pressure-driven forced expiratory (NPFE) and pressure-volume (PV) curve maneuvers. However, these techniques require a tracheostomy, which therefore only allows end-point measurements. Orotracheal intubation has been reported to be feasible and to give reproducible lung function measurements, but the agreement between intubation and tracheostomy generated-data remains to be tested.

Methods

Using the Flexivent system, we measured lung function parameters (in particular, forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in the first 0.1 s (FEV0.1), compliance (Crs) of the respiratory system, compliance (C) measured using PV loop and an estimate of inspiratory capacity (A)) in healthy intubated BALB/cJ mice and C57BL/6 J mice and compared the results with similar measurements performed in the same mice subsequently tracheostomized after intubation, by means of paired comparison method, correlation and Bland-Altman analysis. The feasibility of repetitive lung function measurements by intubation was also tested.

Results

We identified parameters that are accurately evaluated in intubated animals (i.e., FVC, FEV0.1, Crs, C and A in BALB/cJ and FVC, FEV0.1, and A in C57BL/6 J). Repetitive lung function measurements were obtained in C57BL/6 J mice.

Conclusion

This subset of lung function parameters in orotracheally intubated mice is reliable, thereby allowing relevant longitudinal studies.

Supplementary information

Supplementary information accompanies this paper at (10.1186/s12931-019-1177-9).

Optimal tube length of orotracheal intubation for mice

Endotracheal tube (ETT) management is an essential technique in handling mice with mechanical ventilators. Malposition into bronchi causes not only lethal complications for them but also less efficient mechanical ventilation. However, in general, it is difficult to know whether the ETT is placed with appropriate depth into the trachea of mice. We measured the distance from incisors to the bifurcation of trachea of multiple mice, and created a new estimation formula to obtain the suitable ETT length for mice with a body weight range from 17 g to 25 g: length (mm) = 0.5 × bodyweight (g) + 7. However, millimeter step adjustments are impracticable. Thus, slightly shorter than 2 cm (18-20 mm) may be the universal ETT length for mice with bodyweight > 17 g. Furthermore, their foot size may be a good alternative to predict the individual optimal ETT length for mice.