Preprint Article Version 1 Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed

Low-Cost, Open-Source Device for Simultaneously Subjecting Rodents to Different Circadian Cycles of Light, Food, and Temperature

Ramon Farré
* ORCID logo ,
Miguel A. Rodríguez-Lázaro
,
Jorge Otero
,
Núria Gavara
ORCID logo ,
Raimon Sunyer
ORCID logo ,
Nuria Farré
,
David Gozal
ORCID logo ,
Isaac Almendros
ORCID logo
Version 1 : Received: 6 November 2023 / Approved: 7 November 2023 / Online: 7 November 2023 (10:35:23 CET)

A peer-reviewed article of this Preprint also exists.

Farré, R.; Rodríguez-Lázaro, M.A.; Otero, J.; Gavara, N.; Sunyer, R.; Farré, N.; Gozal, D.; Almendros, I. Low-Cost, Open-Source Device for Simultaneously Subjecting Rodents to Different Circadian Cycles of Light, Food, and Temperature. Frontiers in Physiology 2024, 15, doi:10.3389/fphys.2024.1356787. Farré, R.; Rodríguez-Lázaro, M.A.; Otero, J.; Gavara, N.; Sunyer, R.; Farré, N.; Gozal, D.; Almendros, I. Low-Cost, Open-Source Device for Simultaneously Subjecting Rodents to Different Circadian Cycles of Light, Food, and Temperature. Frontiers in Physiology 2024, 15, doi:10.3389/fphys.2024.1356787.

Abstract

Exposure of experimental rodents to controlled cycles of light, food, and temperature is important when investigating alterations in circadian cycles that profoundly influence health and disease. However, applying such stimuli simultaneously is difficult in practice. Our aim was to design, build, test, and open-source describe a simple device that subjects a conventional mouse cage to independent cycles of physiologically relevant environmental variables. The device is based on a box enclosing the rodent cage to modify the light, feeding, and temperature environments. The device provides temperature-controlled air conditioning (heating or cooling) by a Peltier module and includes programmable feeding and illumination. All functions are set by a user-friendly front panel for independent cycle programming. Bench testing with a model simulating the CO2 production of mice in the cage showed: a) suitable air renewal (by measuring actual ambient CO2), b) controlled realistic illumination at the mouse enclosure (measured by a photometer), c) stable temperature control, and d) correct cycling of light, feeding, and temperature. The cost of all the supplies (retail purchased by e-commerce) was < 300 US$). Detailed technical information is open-source provided, allowing for any user to reliably reproduce or modify the device. This approach can considerably facilitate circadian research since using one of the described low-cost devices for any mouse group with a given light-food-temperature paradigm allows for all the experiments to be performed simultaneously, thereby requiring no changes in the light/temperature of a general-use laboratory.

Keywords

circadian alteration; light cycle; intermittent fasting; temperature cycle; animal research; experimental model; open-source hardware

Subject

Biology and Life Sciences, Life Sciences

Copyright: This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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