Pulse-based tail-cuff measurements agreed well with radiotelemetry (slope 0.98), whereas flow-based tail-cuff instruments showed poor agreement (slope 0.118) for mouse systolic blood pressure.
Does tail-cuff measurement accurately reflect systolic blood pressure compared to radiotelemetry in unanesthetized mice?
Pulse-based tail-cuff instruments provide reliable systolic blood pressure measurements in mice compared to radiotelemetry, whereas flow-based instruments may fail to accurately detect elevated pressures.
Effect estimate: Slope 0.118 (flow-based) and 0.98 (pulse-based)
Radiotelemetry of mouse blood pressure accurately monitors systolic pressure, diastolic pressure, heart rate, and locomotor activity but requires surgical implantation. Noninvasive measurements of indirect systolic blood pressure have long been available for larger rodents and now are being reported more frequently for mice. This study compared mouse systolic arterial blood pressure measurements using implanted radiotelemetry pressure transducer with simultaneous tail-cuff measurements in the same unanesthetized mice. The pressure range for comparison was extended by inducing experimental hypertension or by observations of circadian elevations between 3 AM and 6 AM. Both trained and untrained tail-cuff operators used both instruments. Every effort was made to follow recommended manufacturer's instructions. With the initial flow-based tail-cuff instrument, we made 671 comparisons (89 sessions) and found the slope of the linear regression to be 0.118, suggesting poor agreement. In an independent assessment, 277 comparisons (35 sessions) of radiotelemetry measurements with the pulse based tail-cuff instrument were made. The slope of the linear regression of the simultaneous measurements of systolic pressures was 0.98, suggesting agreement. Bland-Altman analysis also supported our interpretation of the linear regression. Thus although reliable systolic pressure measurements are possible with either tail-cuff or radiotelemetry techniques, in our hands some tail-cuff instruments fail to accurately detect elevated blood pressures. These data, however, do not distinguish whether this instrument-specific tail-cuff failure was due to operator or instrument inadequacies. We strongly advise investigators to obtain an independent and simultaneous validation of tail-cuff determinations of mouse blood pressure before making critical genotyping determinations.
Whitesall et al. (Tue,) conducted a other in Blood pressure measurement in mice. Tail-cuff blood pressure measurement (flow-based and pulse-based) vs. Implanted radiotelemetry pressure transducer was evaluated on Agreement of systolic arterial blood pressure measurements (linear regression slope) (Slope 0.118 (flow-based) and 0.98 (pulse-based)). Pulse-based tail-cuff measurements agreed well with radiotelemetry (slope 0.98), whereas flow-based tail-cuff instruments showed poor agreement (slope 0.118) for mouse systolic blood pressure.