Exposure to varied cage-size habitats alters pain sensitivity and inflammation-related biomarkers

Background: Nature and size of rodent cages vary from one laboratory or country to another. Little is however known about the physiological implications of exposure to diverse cage sizes in animal-based experiment. Here, we exposed male Swiss mice to various cage sizes used across laboratories in Nigeria, top-rated paradigms were used to profile changes in physiological behaviours, and this was followed by evaluation of modified biochemical metrics. Results The study showed a better systemic regulation of glucose metabolism in cage migrated mice compared to cage stationed. Strikingly, peripheral oxidative stress and pain sensitivity decreased significantly in cage-to-cage migrated mice despite increased pro-inflammation mediators (IL-6 and NF-κB) which contrast the norm reported in inflammatory conditions. Interestingly, emotion-linked behaviours, neurotransmitters (serotonin, noradrenaline and GABA) and body electrolytes were not altered by cage-to-cage migration. Conclusion Taken together, these results suggest that varied size cage-to-cage migration of experimental mice could affect targeted behavioural and biomolecular parameters of pain and inflammation, thus diminishing research reproducibility, precipitating false negative/positive results and leading to poor translational outcomes.