Routes and Volumes of Administration in Mice
IACUC Guideline
Effective Date: January 2024
Scope
These guidelines provide minimum standards for common administration routes and recommended volumes in the mouse.
Investigator’s Responsibility
The investigator is responsible for ensuring use of techniques and procedures that result in the least pain and distress while addressing experimental design needs. Consideration must be given to determine appropriate delivery routes including site, volume, frequency of administration and preparation method to be used. All individuals performing unsupervised administration techniques must be adequately trained.
Considerations
The volume depends on the administration route and the size of the mouse. Excessive volume can be harmful, therefore always use the smallest volume possible. The rate of absorption depends on the substance solubility and the route of delivery. In general, the absorption rate per route is arranged as follows: IV > IP > IM > SC > PO.
Routes of Administrations
- Oral administration: Gavage (PO); procedure refer to Oral Gavage in Mice and Rats
- Inhalant and nasal administration: Intranasal (IN) refer to Intranasal Instillation in Rodents, and Intratracheal (IT)
- Parenteral administration: Refers to administering substance outside of the gastrointestinal tract.
- Intravenous (IV); refer to Lateral Tail Vein Injection in Mice and Rats and Retro-Orbital Injection in Mice
- Intraperitoneal (IP)
- Intramuscular (IM)
- Subcutaneous (SQ)
- Intradermal (ID)
- Intrathecal
Quality and preparation: Substances for parenteral delivery should be isotonic, sterile, delivered aseptically and pharmaceutical (USP) grade. For preparation of non-pharmaceutical (USP) grade compounds refer to the IACUC policy on Non-pharmaceutical grade compounds.
| Adult mouse | Neonatal mouse | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Route | Volume | Needle size (≤) | Volume | Needle size |
| Intravenous | < 0.2ml (Tail vein or Retro-Orbital) | 27-30 gauge | 0.01ml Retro orbital 0.02ml Temporal vein | 28-31 gauge |
| Intraperitoneal | < 2-3ml | 25-27 gauge | 0.02ml | 28-30 gauge |
| Intramuscular | < 0.02 - 0.05ml | 25-27 gauge | 0.01ml | 28-30 gauge |
| Subcutaneous | < 2-3ml (divide into multiple sites, max 1 mL per site) | 25-27gauge (max 20 gauge) | 0.025ml | 28-30 gauge |
| Intradermal | < 0.05ml | 26 gauge | NA* | NA |
| Intranasal | < 0.05ml | NA | NA | |
| Intratracheal | < 0.07ml | 23-20 gauge tracheal tubing | NA | NA |
| Oral | up to 10ml/kg | 18-20 gauge bulb tipped feeding tube** | NA | NA |
| Intrathecal | 10 uL (up to) | 30 gauge | NA | NA |
* NA – not appropriate for neonates.
** If using feeding tubes without a bulb tip, only elastic flexible feeding tubes (18-22 gauge) are recommended.
References
- Talcott MR, Akers W, Marini RP. Techniques of experimentation. Laboratory Animal Medicine: A volume in American College of Laboratory Animal Medicine, Book-3rd Edition-2015, Chapter 25:1201-1262
- Shinya S, Routes Of Administration, Procedures, The Laboratory Mouse 2004, Chapter 32
- https://oacu.oir.nih.gov/sites/default/files/uploads/training-resources/rodentinjection.pdf
- Gehling AM, Kuszpit K, Bailey EJ, Allen-Worthington KH, Fetterer DP, Rico PJ, Bocan TM, Hofer CC. Evaluation of Volume of Intramuscular Injection into the Caudal Thigh Muscles of Female and Male BALB/c Mice (Mus musculus). J Am Assoc Lab Anim Sci. 2018 Jan 1;57(1):35-43
- Benkhelifa-Ziyyat S, Besse A, Roda M, Duque S, Astord S, Carcenac R, Marais T, Barkats M. Intramuscular scAAV9-SMN injection mediates widespread gene delivery to the spinal cord and decreases disease severity in SMA mice. Mol Ther. 2013 Feb;21(2):282-90
- Southam DS, Dolovich M, O'Byrne PM, Inman MD. Distribution of intranasal instillations in mice: effects of volume, time, body position, and anesthesia. Am J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol. 2002 Apr;282(4):L833-9
- Turner PV, Brabb T, Pekow C, Vasbinder MA. Administration of substances to laboratory animals: routes of administration and factors to consider. J Am Assoc Lab Anim Sci. 2011 Sep;50(5):600-13
- Gombash Lampe SE, Kaspar BK, Foust KD. Intravenous injections in neonatal mice. J Vis Exp. 2014 Nov 11;(93):e52037
- Counsell JR, Karda R, Diaz JA, Carey L, Wiktorowicz T, Buckley SMK, Ameri S, Ng J, Baruteau J, Almeida F, de Silva R, Simone R, Lugarà E, Lignani G, Lindemann D, Rethwilm A, Rahim AA, Waddington SN, Howe SJ. Foamy Virus Vectors Transduce Visceral Organs and Hippocampal Structures following In Vivo Delivery to Neonatal Mice. Mol Ther Nucleic Acids. 2018 Sep 7;12:626-634.