Indirect calorimeter is a powerful tool to monitor resting energy metabolism through the measurement of oxygen (O2) consumption and carbon dioxide (CO2) production. From the measurement of VO2 and VCO2, the respiratory exchange ratio (RER) can be calculated to assess energy fuel utilization and energy expenditure (Evan et al., 2012). Previously, indirect calorimeter has been widely used in metabolic disease research in mice to reveal the potential roles of specific genes or treatments in regulating energy metabolism (for example: Bi et al., 2014; Feng et al., 2014). Here, we described a protocol to evaluate the resting energy metabolism of C57BL/6 mice during dark and light cycles using the Oxymax Open Circuit indirect calorimeter.
Adult mice (C57BL/6 male mice at 3-month old were used for data acquisition in this protocol, but male or female mice of other genetic backgrounds or strains, at different ages can be used)
Food (normal chow diet or high fat diet) and water (ad lib)
Compressed gas mixture with the components of 4,929 PPM CO2, 20.47% O2 and Balance N2
Equipment
Oxymax Open Circuit Indirect Calorimeter (Columbus Instruments, model: Open Circuit Indirect Calorimeter) (Figure 1)
Figure 1. Open circuit indirect calorimeter components
Computer with software provided by the manufacture (Columbus Instruments, model: Oxymax v4.91 )
Nie, Y., Gavin, T. P. and Kuang, S. (2015). Measurement of Resting Energy Metabolism in Mice Using Oxymax Open Circuit Indirect Calorimeter. Bio-protocol 5(18): e1602. DOI: 10.21769/BioProtoc.1602.