Chronic Vascular Catheterization in the Mouse

A method is described for stress-free periodic sampling of blood and/or intravenous infusions in the normal awake and behaving mouse. The surgical procedure consists of the permanent implantation of a Silastic-rubber catheter in the right external jugular vein. The free end of the catheter is then pulled subcutaneously up to the skull and fixed on the skull with a form of dental acrylic that sticks firmly on the bone and thus does not require anchor screws in the skull. This technique allowed us to perform glucose tolerance tests in the mouse, and to follow the time course of blood glucose levels in individuals.