Metabolic Cages
Metabolic Cages - Related Videos
10:28
Body Composition and Metabolic Caging Analysis in High Fat Fed Mice
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Cited by 24 •
2018
This protocol describes the use of a body composition analyzer and metabolic animal monitoring system to characterize body composition and metabolic parameters in mice. An obesity model induced by high-fat feeding is used as an example for the application of these techniques.
08:03
Maintenance of a Drosophila melanogaster Population Cage
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Cited by 7 •
2016
This manuscript reports a detailed protocol for culturing, on a regular basis, a population of Drosophila melanogaster using a fly population cage.
05:41
Metabolic Profile Analysis of Zebrafish Embryos
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Cited by 42 •
2013
Zebrafish represent a powerful vertebrate model that has been under-utilised for metabolic studies. Here we describe a rapid way to measure the in vivo metabolic profile of developing zebrafish that allows the comparison of different mitochondrial function parameters between genetically or pharmacologically manipulated embryos, thereby increasing the applicability of this organism.
01:17
The Thoracic Cage: Sternum
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2023
The thoracic or rib cage forms the body's thorax (chest) portion. Its primary function in the body is to protect vital organs in the thoracic cavity, such as the heart and the lungs. It consists of 12 pairs of ribs with their costal cartilages and the sternum. The ribs are anchored posteriorly to the 12 thoracic vertebrae (T1-T12). The sternum is the elongated bony structure on the anterior side of the thoracic cage. It consists of three parts: the manubrium, the body, and the xiphoid process.
01:20
The Thoracic Cage: Ribs
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2025
Ribs are curved, flattened bones forming the thoracic cavity wall with the thoracic muscles. There are 12 pairs of thoracic ribs. The posterior ends of all the ribs articulate with the T1–T12 thoracic vertebrae. In contrast,the anterior ends of most ribs attach to the sternum via their costal cartilages. Parts of a Typical Rib A typical rib has a head, neck, and body. The posterior end of the rib is called the head, followed by a narrow neck. The head articulates primarily with the costal facet...
FAQs
Their compartmentalized floors, funnels, and collection vessels direct food, water, urine, and feces into distinct areas. This physical separation limits contact among samples and helps preserve the relationship between what an animal consumes and what it excretes. Reliable separation is important when researchers compare physiological changes with nutrient use, energy balance, or waste production.
Contamination can make it difficult to determine whether a measured substance came from food, water, urine, or feces. Metabolic cage designs address this problem by directing materials into separate collection locations. Cleaner separation improves confidence in quantitative comparisons, particularly when studies examine kidney function, nutrition, pharmacology, or changes in waste excretion.
When paired with indirect calorimetry, the system adds information about respiratory gases to measurements of intake and excretion. Oxygen consumption and carbon dioxide production can be used to estimate energy expenditure, connecting gas exchange with whole-animal energy balance. This broader measurement approach helps relate external outputs to changes in physiological metabolism.
A study can organize measurements of food intake, water intake, urine, and feces alongside physiological observations. In designs that include respiratory gas monitoring, oxygen consumption and carbon dioxide production may also be assessed. Comparing these inputs, outputs, and gas-based estimates allows researchers to examine nutrient use, energy balance, and waste excretion under controlled conditions.
They are useful when a study needs to connect controlled intake and waste measurements with physiological change. Applications described for this approach include metabolism, kidney function, pharmacology, nutrition, and disease research. The system is especially relevant when investigators need to quantify both what an animal receives and what it eliminates during an experiment.
Energy balance can be examined by relating measured food and water intake to waste excretion and, when available, estimated energy expenditure. This comparison provides a structured view of how inputs and outputs change together. In biology research, the resulting measurements can help link whole-animal physiology with metabolic, nutritional, renal, pharmacological, or disease-related effects.