Consideration of the covariation between indicators through multivariate approaches

could enhance the precision to characterize smaller differences between treatment groups and the statistical significance of the BCG-treatment effect. Furthermore, the consideration of multiple indicators simultaneously could enhance the characterization of mouse-to-mouse variation and strengthen the identification of behavioral outliers. However, higher precision could come at the expense of higher number of parameters that need to be specified or estimated. Whether this trade-off results in a net benefit of better understanding the relationship between infection and sickness and depression indicators needs to be investigated. The objectives Androgen Receptor high throughput screening of this study were: (1) to gain a comprehensive characterization of behavioral indicators beta-catenin inhibitor in the BCG model of inflammation using multivariate approaches, and (2) to uncover behavioral differences associated with BCG-treatment level. Supporting activities include the consideration of complementary multidimensional approaches and study of mouse-to-mouse variation. Adult (12–14 weeks old) male C57BL/6J mice from the Charles River Laboratory were studied. Mice were housed in individual cages under a normal 12:12 h light/dark

cycle in a temperature- (23 °C) and humidity- (45%) controlled room. Mice were offered water and food ad libitum (Teklad 8640 chow, Harlan Laboratories, Indianapolis, IN, USA) and handled daily for one week prior to the trial to ensure adaptation. Within the light

cycle (lights on 10:00 PM–10:00 AM), behavioral tests began during the start of the dark phase under red lighting ( O’Connor et al., 2009). Three doses of the BCG strain of Mycobacterium bovis were studied. Live attenuated mycobacteria TICE BCG (50 mg wet weight of lyophilized culture containing 1 × 108 colony forming units or CFU/vial) was used (Organon USA Inc., USA). Vial reconstitution prior to inoculation used preservative-free saline and followed the provider’s instructions. Individual mice were challenged once with either 10 mg/mouse (BCG10 group, n = 5), 5 mg/mouse (BCG5 group, n = 6) or sterile saline solution (BCG0 group, n = 7) selleck at Day 0 of the experiment. Treatments were standardized to 0.3 ml/mouse and administered via intraperitoneal injection. Each mice was measured for the same set of sickness and depression-like indicators and thus, the measurements from 18 mice (5 mice BCG10 + 6 mice BCG5 + 7 mice BCG0) were analyzed. Experiments and measurements were implemented in accordance with the Animal Care and Use Program established by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee. The behavioral measurements are described in the sequence they were obtained.