Laboratory Animal Nutrition

Abstract

High-quality diets are essential for the growth, maintenance, and reproduction of laboratory animals. It is one of the most independent variables in the experimental design. Various specialized diet formulations are used to make different disease models by altering the gut microbiome in laboratory animals. Any imbalance in diet affects animal health, animal welfare, and reproducibility of experimental data. Besides diet, the drinking water provided to laboratory animals should also be taken into consideration in an experimental design, and it should be free from waterborne pathogens and chemical contaminants. Modern units of diet formulation follow the hazard analysis and critical control point (HACCP) principles and European Union Good Manufacturing Practice (EU-GMP) to ensure quality as well as batch to batch consistency of diet. Animal Research: Reporting of In Vivo Experiments (ARRIVE) guidelines stress that the specifications of diet should be provided along with the experimental results while publishing research papers. This review gives an overall view of the nutrient requirements of laboratory rodents and lagomorphs, which form the bulk of laboratory animals in research. The types of the animal diet and their importance in giving consistent results in animal experimentation are also discussed. It is also intended to sensitize the scientists on the importance of quality laboratory animal feed and drinking water in getting consistent results.