Original Article

Influence of tail versus cardiac sampling on blood glucose

and lipid profiles in mice

Yih Kai Chan1, Paul F Davis2,3, Sally D Poppitt1,4, Xueying Sun5, Nicholas S Greenhill2,3,
Rita Krishnamurthi5, Aneta Przepiorski5, Anne-Thea McGill1,6 and Geoffrey W Krissansen5
1
Human Nutrition Unit, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand; 2Bioactivity Investigation Group, Department of Medicine,
University of Otago, Wellington, Wellington South, New Zealand; 3Trinity Bioactives Ltd, Wellington, New Zealand; 4School of Biological
Sciences, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand; 5Department of Molecular Medicine & Pathology, Faculty of Medical and
Health Sciences, University of Auckland, New Zealand; 6School of Population Health, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
Corresponding author: G W Krissansen. Email: gw.krissansen@auckland.ac.nz

Abstract
Blood is collected during animal experimentation to measure haematological and metabolic parameters. It cannot be
assumed that circulating blood has the same composition irrespective of its location, and indeed, differences in the
composition of blood sampled from the arterial and venous compartments have been reported. Here we investigated whether
blood collected by cardiac puncture (CP) versus that collected following removal of the distal 1 mm of the tail tip (TT) differs
with respect to glucose and lipid profiles in male C57BL/6J mice at 4, 7, 20 and 28 weeks of age. Blood was first collected
from the TT of unanaesthetized mice, which were then immediately anaesthetized using ketamine/xylazine, and a second
blood sample was collected by CP. The CP glucose concentration was significantly higher than TT glucose by a positive bias
averaging þ80% (P , 0.01), irrespective of the age of the mice. Conversely, the concentrations of the CP lipids, including total
cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglyceride were lower than TT lipids by a negative bias averaging 225%
(P , 0.05). These observations highlight the difficulty in measuring and comparing metabolic parameters such as glucose and
lipid between one blood compartment and another. They illustrate the need to standardize sampling sites, especially when
repeated blood sampling is required.

Keywords: Metabolic parameters, blood sampling site, glucose, lipids, C57BL/6 mice

Laboratory Animals 2012; 46: 142– 147. DOI: 10.1258/la.2011.011136

Assessment of blood parameters is often used to monitor
animal health and to determine the success of dietary and
pharmacological intervention in preclinical animal models.
Cardiac puncture (CP) of anaesthetized animals is routinely
used in rodent studies to collect large volumes of good
quality central circulatory blood from the heart at the ter-
mination of an experiment. Smaller aliquots of peripheral
blood are commonly obtained by removal of the distal
1 mm of the tail tip (TT) of conscious, unanaesthetized
animals. Sampling blood from the TT is a less invasive pro-
cedure that allows repeated blood collection from the same
animal without the confounding effects of anaesthesia. It is
important to consider whether haematological and meta-
bolic measurements might differ in relation to different
blood sampling sites, and/or use of anaesthesia at the
time of blood collection. More than one blood collection
site may be used concurrently during a study, which
would potentially confound the results. Further, metabolic
parameters are sometimes compared across studies.
Rodents and humans share a similar cardiovascular circu-
latory system where the venae cavae carry deoxygenated
blood from the tissues to the heart, which then pumps the
blood via the pulmonary artery to the lungs. The oxyge-
nated blood is pumped back to the heart via the pulmonary
veins, and then to the rest of the body via the aorta. In the
tail of the mouse, there are three veins and one artery,
hence blood collection from the TT yields both venous
and arterial blood.1,2 Blood collected from the heart can
yield venous or arterial blood or a mixture depending on
the volume taken and site of puncture. Differences in the
composition of the blood in an artery or a vein have been
widely addressed in clinical medicine and clinical
studies;3,4 however, direct comparison remains less well
known in animal studies and is often ignored. In humans,
inconsistent differences in lipid and lipoprotein concen-
trations in arterial and venous blood have been reported.
Miles et al.5 reported that venous plasma triglyceride
(TAG) concentrations were significantly lower than arterial

Laboratory Animals 2012; 46: 142 –147

 Chan et al. Blood sampling site affects metabolic measurements
................................................................................................................................................
values in eight healthy male subjects. In contrast, Kupke
et al.6 reported that the concentrations of lipids and lipopro-
teins measured in arterial blood serum were lower than in
venous blood, and concluded that venous and arterial
blood serum cannot be used interchangeably for these
estimations.
There are little published animal study data on how levels
of haematological and metabolic parameters differ in arter-
ial and venous blood. Nevertheless, differences in the levels
of glucose obtained from arterial versus venous blood have
been documented in humans since the 1920s.4,7 – 10 The
levels of venous glucose generally reflect that of arterial
glucose under fasting conditions; however, arterial and
venous glucose levels can deviate in a similar but unpredict-
able manner after feeding or under a glucose load. The
arterial value may be anywhere from 2% higher during
fasting to as much as 70% higher in the postprandial
state.4,7 – 10 Other haematological parameters such as
packed cell volume, haemoglobin, white blood cell, red
blood cell and haematocrit have been reported to be
higher in venous blood samples compared with blood
samples obtained from the retro-orbital sinus or arterial
heart of mice and rats.11 – 15 In C57BL/6 mice the total leuko-
cyte counts obtained by CP were reported to be significantly
lower as compared with blood sourced from the saphenous
vein, tail and foot.16
Anaesthesia may affect the concentrations of a number of
circulating metabolites. There are reports of higher levels of
glucose in blood collected from rats anaesthetized with
ether, pentobarbitone sodium or fentanyl plus droperidol
compared with manually restrained unanaesthetized
rats,17 and similar findings have been observed in keta-
mine/xylazine anaesthetized rats.18 Saha et al.19 reported
that anaesthesia with ketamine/xylazine caused acute
hyperglycaemia associated with decreased insulin, adreno-
corticotropic hormone and corticosterone in fed, but not
fasted, rats. Hyperglycaemia and hypoinsulinaemia have
also been documented during ketamine/xylazine anaesthe-
sia in thoroughbred horses.20 Hence, some commonly used
anaesthetics can differentially affect a number of blood par-
ameters in animal studies.
The aim of the present study therefore was to determine
whether different blood sampling sites had a significant
effect on measurements of circulating concentrations
of glucose and lipids in male C57BL/6J mice. Blood
samples were collected from the TT of unanaesthetized
animals and then immediately from CP of ketamine/
xylazine anaesthetized animals at 4, 7, 20 and 28 weeks
of age.
Materials and methods
Animals and housing
C57BL/6J mice were sourced from the Jackson Laboratory,
Bar Harbor, Maine, USA. Twenty-one-day-old male
C57BL/6J mice weighing between 6 and 12 g were housed
under standard conditions at five mice per conventional
cage with wood shavings as bedding. They had unrestricted
access to water and either the AIN93M or AIN93G rodent
143
diet (refer to Table 1). The temperature of the room
during the study was maintained at between 18 and 228C,
humidity of 50 and 65% and the lighting on a 12 h light
and 12 h dark cycle. Ethical reviews were undertaken by
Animal Ethics Committees of the University of Auckland
and Wellington School of Medicine. All procedures and
care administered to the animals were in accordance with
the institutional animal ethics approval.
Collection of blood samples
TT blood: Blood samples were collected from the TT of con-
scious, unanaesthetized mice at 4, 7, 20 and 28 weeks of age.
Mice were fasted for 4 h on the morning of blood collection.
Animals were placed in a restrainer and the tail section was
covered with a clean gauze swab leaving the last 5 mm
clear. The last 1 mm of the tip of the tail was then
removed using sterilized surgical scissors. The tail was
placed in a serum separator tube (Becton Dickinson Cat.
No. 365956; Becton, Dickinson and Co, Franklin Lakes, NJ,
USA), and gently milked to ensure an adequate blood
flow. Approximately 200 mL of blood was collected on
each occasion.
Cardiac puncture: Following collection of the TT sample, the
mice were immediately anaesthetized by intraperitoneal
injection with ketamine (100 mg/kg body weight) and xyla-
zine (5 mg/kg body weight). They then underwent laparot-
omy and a 22 G needle attached to a 1 mL syringe was used
to puncture through the diaphragm into the heart and
800 mL of blood was collected, representing most of the ani-
mal’s blood volume, and expected to be a mix of venous
and arterial blood. The blood was placed in a serum separa-
tor tube (Becton Dickinson Cat. No. 365956).
Analyses
The blood samples were centrifuged at 3000 rpm for 10 min,
and the sera were collected and transferred to fresh micro-
tubes, and stored at 2808C until analysed. Blood biochem-
istry was analysed using a Vitalab Flexor clinical chemistry
analyser (Vitalab Flexor E, AC Dieren, The Netherlands).
The serum levels of glucose were measured by the
hexokinase method;21 total cholesterol (TC) was measured
by an enzymatic method using cholesterol esterase and
cholesterol oxidase/peroxidase; TAG was measured by the
lipase/glycerol kinase method; and high-density lipoprotein
cholesterol (HDL-C) was measured by an enzymatic
method using Roche assay kits (Roche Diagnostics GmbH,
Mannheim, Germany).
Statistical methods
All data are expressed as mean + standard error of the
mean (SEM) unless otherwise stated. Cross comparisons
between the blood collection sites were calculated using a
paired t-test. Pearson’s correlation coefficients were calcu-
lated to determine associations between the blood sampling
sites and the various blood parameters. Linear regression
analyses were used to determine the partial R 2 (Microsoft
144 Laboratory Animals Volume 46 April 2012
................................................................................................................................................
Table 1 Differences in glucose, total cholesterol, triglyceride (TAG) and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) concentrations between
cardiac puncture (CP) and tail tip (TT) blood
Age No. of
(weeks) animals Diet Glucose (mmol/L)
 
4 40 AIN93M control diet 10.56 (26.87 to 22.34)
(10 en% fat)
7 10 AIN93G control diet 7.43 (4.89 to 9.02)
(17 en% fat)
20 20 AIN93M control diet 6.41 (5.24 to 12.93)
(10 en% fat)
28 20 AIN93M control diet 10.99 (8.38 to 17.09)
(10 en% fat)
Values are expressed as mean difference (range) between CP and TT bleeds
NS: not significant as compared with the TT group of mice

P , 0.01, #P , 0.05
Office Excel 2007, Professional Edition, Microsoft
Corporation). P , 0.05 was considered statistically
significant.
Results
Measurement of blood glucose concentrations
The mean glucose concentration was significantly different
between blood obtained from the TT and by CP, irrespective
of the age of the animals (Figure 1a; Table 1). CP glucose
was significantly higher than TT glucose in 4-week-old
(23.56 + 1.34 versus 13.00 + 0.29 mmol/L, P , 0.01),
7-week-old (20.55 + 0.70 versus 13.13 + 0.38 mmol/L, P ,
0.01), 20-week-old (16.57 + 1.24 versus 10.16 + 0.60 mmol/
L, P , 0.01) and 28-week-old (20.88 + 1.63 versus 9.89 +
0.54 mmol/L, P , 0.01) mice. CP glucose concentrations
for all age groups combined exhibited a wide range of
values (range 8.63 –33.98 mmol/L) compared with TT
glucose (range 8.15 – 15.69 mmol/L), and there was no corre-
lation between the two sampling sites (glucose R 2: 0.098,
P . 0.05) (Figure 2a). Further, more than 95% of the
paired determinations had a higher glucose concentration
in the blood obtained by CP than from the TT. The mean
bias of the CP glucose concentrations versus TT glucose con-
centrations was approximately þ80% (mean, SD) across all
concentrations.
Measurement of blood lipid concentrations
In contrast to the glucose results, the levels of TC, HDL-C
and TAG in arterial blood collected by CP from anaesthe-
tized mice at 4, 7, 20 and 28 weeks of age were consistently
lower than venous blood obtained from the TT (Figures 1b,
c and d). These effects were significant irrespective of the
age of the mice, with the exception of TAG at 7 and 20
weeks where there was no significant difference between
the two sampling sites (Table 1).
There was a positive correlation between levels of TC,
HDL-C and TAG measured from TT blood and those
obtained by CP under anaesthesia (TC r 2: 0.27, P , 0.01;
TAG r 2: 0.27, P , 0.01; HDL-C r 2: 0.34, P , 0.01; combined
data from 4-, 7-, 20- and 28-week-old mice) (Figures 2b, c
and d). Approximately 90% of the paired determinations
of TC, TAG and HDL-C were lower in CP blood than in
Total cholesterol
(mmol/L) TAG (mmol/L) HDL-C (mmol/L)

20.82 (21.38 to 0.99 ) 20.38 (20.95 to 0.81 ) 20.62 (21.17 to 0.65)
20.92 (21.01 to 20.45) 20.18 (20.45 to 0.39)NS 20.58 (20.93 to 20.36)
20.47 (21.71 to 0.65) 20.13 (0.35 to 20.33)NS 20.30 (21.13 to 0.38)#
20.94 (20.47 to 21.22) 20.27 (20.04 to 20.32) 20.74 (20.76 to 0.2)
TT blood, yielding a mean negative bias of approximately
225% (mean, SD) across all concentrations.
Discussion
In the present study, we showed firstly that the commonly
measured metabolic parameters of glucose, TC, HDL-C
and TAG differed significantly between the two sampling
sites irrespective of the age of the mice, with higher circulat-
ing glucose and lower circulating lipid concentrations in CP
blood. Secondly, that when all age groups were combined
there were significant positive correlations between TT
and CP blood as lipid concentrations increased, but conver-
sely no significant correlation between concentrations of
glucose when collected from the TT and by CP. When
working with rodents, blood is commonly collected from
both the TT and/or heart. However, the choice of method
and source of blood collection may vary, and hence differen-
tially affect a number of blood parameters.11 – 15,18,22,23 It is
therefore important to consider any possible disparity in
measured blood constituents caused by the technique of
collection, to avoid untoward experimental bias.
The glucose concentrations in blood samples obtained by
CP were determined to be higher than those obtained from
the TT. The current understanding is that under conditions
of basal, steady-state glucose metabolism, the glucose con-
centration in the artery is consistently higher than that
in the vein. Henry24 predicted on a physiological basis
that arterial glucose concentrations are approximately
0.20 mmol/L higher than venous values in fasting individ-
uals. In the present study, the combined mean difference
for all animals across all age groups was 8.85 mmol/L
(80% bias individual sample), hence we speculate that
either such extreme differences between the two sampling
site are either not entirely physiological, or this represents
a physiological difference between humans and mice.
Higher blood glucose levels were reported from anaesthe-
tized rodents compared with unanaesthetized manually
restrained counterparts.17 Recent studies by Rodrigues
et al.18 and Saha et al.19 also showed similar findings
where anaesthesia with ketamine/xylazine caused
significant hyperglycaemic effects in non-fasted Sprague –
Dawley rats after 20 min that continued to increase for
3 h post-anaesthesia via an a2-adrenoceptor pathway.
 Chan et al. Blood sampling site affects metabolic measurements 145
................................................................................................................................................

Figure 1 Levels of (a) glucose, (b) total cholesterol, (c) triglyceride (TAG) and (d) high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) in serum samples of male C57BL/
6J mice from blood collected from the tail tip (TT) and by cardiac puncture (CP) at 4 (n ¼ 40), 7 (n ¼ 10), 20 (n ¼ 20) and 28 (n ¼ 20) weeks of age. n ¼ number of
animal samples; values are expressed as mean + SEM.  P , 0.01 and #P , 0.05 as compared with the TT group of mice

Interestingly, ketamine/xylazine-induced anaesthesia did
not cause hyperglycaemia in fasted rats, though there was
a small and insignificant increase in blood glucose levels.
In the present study, the mice were fasted for 4 h on the
morning of blood collection and the time between keta-
mine/xylazine-induced anaesthesia and cardiac bleeding
was less than 2 min, hence it is unlikely that the anaesthesia
induced hyperglycaemia, though it cannot be ruled out as
partly explaining why the TT and CP glucose levels are so
different.
When external stimuli such as stress, even from routine
laboratory procedures including animal handling and
blood collection, are applied to animals, significant physio-
logical changes correlated with stress have been reported in
a number of studies, in particular stress-mediated increases
in serum or plasma concentrations of corticosterone,
glucose, growth hormone or prolactin, heart rate and
blood pressure.25,26 Periorbital puncture resulted in a dra-
matic increase in blood glucose in conscious mice indicating
that this is a stressful procedure.27 Tail puncture resulted in
an increase in blood glucose in conscious mice, compared
with saphenous venepuncture indicating that this is a
stressful procedure.28 Further Strawitz et al.29 showed
that fasted rats subjected to the standard shock procedure
consisting of tail bleeding can mobilize glucose into the
blood stream and cause severe hyperglycaemia indepen-
dent of their initial glucose reserve. It is also possible
that our mice may have experienced some form of haemor-
rhagic shock following the initial TT procedure which trig-
gered the mobilization of glucose into the blood stream
and caused an increase in blood glucose concentrations
prior to the second CP procedure. Hypoperfusion is a
known factor in the underestimation of point-of-care
glucose testing, especially in critical care individuals.30
Alternatively, milking the tail to collect a sufficient
volume of blood could have led to dilution of blood by
interstitial fluid as a contributory factor for the lower
glucose concentrations.
The widely used C57BL/6J mouse strain is susceptible to
obesity and atherosclerosis, which is exacerbated when the
mice are fed a high-fat diet.31 – 34 It is increasingly used as a
diet-induced fatty mouse model of the metabolic syndrome
that mimics high fat/energy-fed humans.34 The present
study shows that the levels of TC, HDL-C and TAG in
blood obtained by CP from anaesthetized mice at 4, 7, 20
and 28 weeks of age were consistently lower than levels
146 Laboratory Animals Volume 46 April 2012
................................................................................................................................................

Figure 2 Deviations of the levels of (a) glucose, (b) total cholesterol, (c) triglyceride (TAG) and (d) high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) in serum samples
from blood collected from the tail tip (TT) and by cardiac puncture (CP) (n ¼ 90); NS: not significant

in TT blood. In contrast to glucose, this difference cannot
be accounted for by simple dilution of venous blood
with interstitial fluid in the TT sample due to milking
the tail since the levels of lipids derived from TT blood
were significantly higher than those obtained by CP. The
increasing age of the mice did not seem to influence this
pattern with the exception of circulating TAG at 7 and
20 weeks where it was just insignificant between the two
sampling sites. The overall inter-individual variations
(combined data) of CP blood lipid levels were narrower,
and around 90% of the paired determinations measured
were lower than those for TT blood yielding an average
negative bias of approximately 225% across all concen-
trations irrespective of the age of the animals. We also
found that circulating concentrations of TC, HDL-C and
TAG collected from the TT were positively associated
with the levels obtained by CP; however, the correlations
were weak and TT values could not be used to predict
CP concentrations of any lipid or lipoprotein component.
In the fasting state used here glucose will be synthesized
in the liver to be secreted into the circulation via the
hepatic vein, whereas lipids will be released from both
the liver and peripheral adipose tissues into the blood.
Glucose extraction in the periphery may mean lower
glucose levels in the tail and limbs than centrally.
Whatever the exact reason for the consistent differences
seen, the current observation suggests a probable true bio-
logical difference in lipid concentrations existing between
these two sampling sites, and consequently we suggest
that TT and CP blood should not be used interchangeably
when assessing the levels of serum glucose and/or lipids
within one experimental model.
In conclusion, the present study demonstrated that the
blood sampling site can profoundly influence a number of
commonly tested blood parameters such as glucose and
lipid profiles including TC, HDL-C and TAG. Our findings
emphasize the need to standardize the sampling site and
collection method, especially in longitudinal research
studies where multiple and repetitive routine blood
samples are required.
 Chan et al. Blood sampling site affects metabolic measurements
................................................................................................................................................
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors gratefully acknowledge Yih-Chih Chan, Carol
Zhu and Katy Wiessing for their technical assistance. We
thank staff members of the Biomedical Research Unit
(BRU), University of Otago, Wellington, and at the Vernon
Jansen Unit (VJU), University of Auckland for their assist-
ance with daily animal husbandry. We thank staff of the
Bioactivity Investigation Group and Trinity Bioactives Ltd,
Wellington for technical assistance. This study was sup-
ported by funding from the Foundation for Research
Science and Technology, and the Fonterra Co-operative
Group via the consortium Lactopharma, New Zealand.
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