Modification and Application of a Commercial Whole-body Plethysmograph to Monitor Respiratory Abnormalities in Neonatal Mice

Proper breathing is essential for mammals to acquire oxygen after birth and requires coordinated actions among several tissues, including diaphragm, intercostal muscles, trachea, bronchi, lung and respiration-regulating neurons located in the medulla oblongata. Genetically modified mice that die early postnatally may have respiratory defects caused by maldevelopment of any one of these tissues (Turgeon and Meloche, 2009). Because of the small body size of neonatal pups, whole-body plethysmography can be used to monitor their respiratory activities. In this protocol, we modified the commercial whole-body plethysmograph by increasing metal filters in the pneumotach, connecting an extension tube to the pneumotach and removing the bias flow supply. With these modifications, the sensitivity of this device is significantly increased to enable the detection of rhythmic respiration in neonatal mice as early as postnatal day 1 (P1).