Table 1 The body characteristics and serum protein concentrations of wild mice and their comparison to laboratory mice.

From: The comparative immunology of wild and laboratory mice, Mus musculus domesticus

Parameter

Laboratory

Wild

 

Female

Male

Female versus Male

Female

Male

Female versus Male

Lab. versus Wild

Age (weeks)

   

7.2 (1.4–39.5; 80)

6.2 (1.0–20.9; 99)

F1, 178=2.426

 

Body length (mm)

   

67 (50–80; 81)

70 (48–86; 100)

F1, 180=3.448

 

Body mass (g)

20.5 (14.1–40.4; 37)

25.75 (19–32; 24)

F1, 60=8.35**

12.9 (3.3–24.9; 81)

13.9 (4.7–20.4; 100)

F1, 180=0.204

F1, 241=193.2***

Spleen mass (mg)

82 (48–132; 38)

76 (53–112; 24)

U=408

25 (2–200; 78)

24 (4–644; 99)

U=3891

U=10575***

Viable spleen cells (millions)

101 (0.43–299; 38)

119 (2.66–204; 24)

U=575

20.5 (1.40–78.20; 64)

20.6 (4.6–86.2; 83)

U=2718

U=8575***

Spleen mass: body mass ratio

0.0039 (0.0025–0.0053; 36)

0.0031 (0.0022–0.0041; 24)

F1, 59=22.74***

0.0020 (0.0030–0.0044; 78)

0.0020 (0.0004–0.0081; 97)

F1, 174=0.005

F1, 234=116.67***

Serum IgG (μg ml−1)

358 (9–13326; 39)

282 (47–1912; 24)

U=376

6889 (221–35784; 79)

5716 (200–35642; 96)

U=3374

U=517***

Serum IgE (μg ml−1)

0.42 (0.01–15.21; 34)

0.33 (0.03–0.69; 17)

U=193

132 (8–753; 79)

81 (1–832; 96)

U=2685***

H=123.1***, LF<WF***, LF<WM***, LM<WF***, LM<WM***

Faecal IgA (μg g−1)

248 (170–379; 7)

163 (130–283; 5)

U=7

199 (5–1168; 45)

268 (2–1178; 64)

U=1534

U=621

SAP (μg ml−1)

1.29 (0.49–2.58; 33)

0.77 (0.30–1.96; 17)

U=101***

2.06 (0.11–6.43; 78)

1.68 (0.14–5.43; 96)

U=3225

H=19.8***, LM<WF***, LM<WM**

Haptoglobin (μg ml−1)

0.505 (0.15–315; 40)

0.54 (0.54–424; 23)

U=749***

4.87 (0.36–1190; 78)

5.34 (0.48–571; 96)

U=3630

H=56.5***, LF<WF***, LF<WM***

AAT (μg ml−1)

248 (4–488; 37)

286 (26–456; 19)

U=436

272 (2–596; 77)

263 (3–748; 95)

U=3631

U=4621

  1. The table shows the body characteristics and serum protein concentrations for wild and laboratory mice, shown as medians (range; n). Statistical results show comparisons between sex within animal source (that is, laboratory or wild mice), and between animal source. Where there exists a significant difference between sex, mice were grouped by sex and animal source as: laboratory female, laboratory male, wild female and wild male (LF, LM, WF, WM, respectively), with Kruskal–Wallis H-tests (and post hoc, Dunn–Bonferonni, pairwise comparisons) conducted with significant differences reported. Where data were normal (that is, body length, body mass and spleen mass: body mass ratio) or could be transformed to normal (log10 transformation of age; untransformed data shown), the results of univariate GLMs are reported. All non-normal data were analysed by Mann–Whitney U-tests, unless stated otherwise. Asterisks denote significant differences as *P<0.05, **P<0.01, ***P<0.001.
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