Overview
The Arkansas Children’s Research Institute has a state-of-the-art 35,000 square-foot animal facility, accredited by the American Association for the Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care and overseen by board-certified veterinarians. The Arkansas Children’s Nutrition Center Rodent Metabolic and Behavioral Phenotyping Core operates within a dedicated wing of ~6,200 square feet, managed by Mr. James Sikes who leads a team of three full-time, highly trained personnel trained in all aspects of animal husbandry and health, surgery, glucose and insulin tolerance tests, and other specialized techniques.
The goal of the Rodent Metabolic and Behavioral Phenotyping Core is to support translational preclinical research at the Arkansas Children’s Nutrition Center by providing users with access to state-of-the-art equipment and scientific expertise.
Cutting-edge, Specialized Equipment
The Rodent Metabolic and Behavioral Phenotyping Core utilizes state-of-the-art instrumentation to collect detailed physiological data for our animal researchers.
Monitoring Energy Expenditure
Two state-of-the-art Promethion Systems perform 24-h metabolic assessments of energy expenditure via indirect calorimetry, food/water-intake, core temperature and activity.
The Only One in Arkansas
Both Promethion systems, (able to run up to 32 mice simultaneously) are housed within temperature-controlled chambers, also available for long-term temperature control studies.
Assessment of Body Composition
Both Nuclear magnetic resonance (Echo MRI) as well as Dual x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) are available to assess body composition.
Stable Isotope Gas Analyzer
The Stable Isotope Analyzer measures the oxidation of exogenous nutrients such as Carbon 13 and Oxygen 18 in exhaled breath.
AALAC-certified and USDA-registered
This AALAC-certified vivarium is registered with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and has a fully approved Letter of Assurance on file with the National Institutes of Health Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare. The Arkansas Children’s Nutrition Center requires animal certification of all staff using the facility. In addition to rounds and on call availability, the veterinarians provide consultation concerning animal care and housing, surgical procedures, and in the development of Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee protocols. The Arkansas Children’s Nutrition Center Rodent Metabolic and Behavioral Phenotyping Core staff are trained in all aspects of executing animal experiments, including ordering animals, tracking animals (using subcutaneous microchips, ear-tags, etc.), maintaining breeding colonies, performing serial in vivo assessments (body composition analysis, indirect calorimetry, glucose tolerance tests, etc.), and collection and banking of tissues.