Protocol for nutritional intervention in neonatal rats using the "pup-in-a-cup" artificial rearing system

Weilan Wang; Anamika Choudhary; Chunlong Mu; Morris H Scantlebury; Jane Shearer; Raylene A Reimer

doi:10.1016/j.xpro.2024.102919

Protocol for nutritional intervention in neonatal rats using the "pup-in-a-cup" artificial rearing system

STAR Protoc. 2024 Mar 15;5(1):102919. doi: 10.1016/j.xpro.2024.102919. Epub 2024 Feb 29.

Authors

Weilan Wang¹, Anamika Choudhary², Chunlong Mu³, Morris H Scantlebury⁴, Jane Shearer⁵, Raylene A Reimer⁶

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Kinesiology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada. Electronic address: weilan.wang@bcm.edu.
² Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB T2N 4N1, Canada; Department of Pediatrics, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB T2N 4N1, Canada.
³ Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB T2N 4N1, Canada; Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB T2N 4N1, Canada.
⁴ Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB T2N 4N1, Canada; Department of Pediatrics, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB T2N 4N1, Canada; Department of Clinical Neurosciences and Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB T2N 4N1, Canada.
⁵ Faculty of Kinesiology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada; Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB T2N 4N1, Canada; Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB T2N 4N1, Canada.
⁶ Faculty of Kinesiology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada; Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB T2N 4N1, Canada; Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB T2N 4N1, Canada. Electronic address: reimer@ucalgary.ca.

Abstract

Early-life nutrition fundamentally influences newborn development and health. Here, we present a protocol for nutritional intervention in neonatal rats using the "pup-in-a-cup" artificial rearing system. We describe steps for rat milk substitute preparation, cheek cannulation and maintenance, and nutritional manipulation during the suckling period. This protocol enables investigation into the role of nutritional factors in newborns by artificially rearing rats away from the mother with experimental diets starting at postnatal day 4 for up to 18 days. For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Wang et al.,¹ Choudhary et al.,² and Mu et al.³^,⁴.

Keywords: Bioinformatics; Computer sciences; Genomics.

MeSH terms

Animals
Animals, Newborn*
Rats