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. 2021 May 10:12:638261.
doi: 10.3389/fendo.2021.638261. eCollection 2021.

A Handful of Details to Ensure the Experimental Reproducibility on the FORCED Running Wheel in Rodents: A Systematic Review

Daniel Garrigos  1   2 , Marta Martínez-Morga  1   2 , Angel Toval  1   2 , Yevheniy Kutsenko  1   2 , Alberto Barreda  1   2 , Bruno Ribeiro Do Couto  1   2   3 , Fernando Navarro-Mateu  2   4   5   6 , José Luis Ferran  1   2
Affiliations

A Handful of Details to Ensure the Experimental Reproducibility on the FORCED Running Wheel in Rodents: A Systematic Review

Daniel Garrigos et al. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). .

Abstract

A well-documented method and experimental design are essential to ensure the reproducibility and reliability in animal research. Experimental studies using exercise programs in animal models have experienced an exponential increase in the last decades. Complete reporting of forced wheel and treadmill exercise protocols would help to ensure the reproducibility of training programs. However, forced exercise programs are characterized by a poorly detailed methodology. Also, current guidelines do not cover the minimum data that must be included in published works to reproduce training programs. For this reason, we have carried out a systematic review to determine the reproducibility of training programs and experimental designs of published research in rodents using a forced wheel system. Having determined that most of the studies were not detailed enough to be reproducible, we have suggested guidelines for animal research using FORCED exercise wheels, which could also be applicable to any form of forced exercise.

Keywords: animal research; forced exercise; forced wheel; research guidelines; rodent exercise.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
PRISMA flow diagram of study selection.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Risk of bias assessment using SYRCLE’s tool. Author’s judgment presented as percentage on each item. (-) High risk of bias, eminent risk of bias for this item; (?) Unclear risk of bias, carefully check the article for this item interpretation; (+) Low risk of bias, free of risk of bias in this item.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Percentage of studies that reported each item in relation to Ethics Committee, Housing and Animals sections. Light blue box: Item reported percentage. Red box: Item not reported percentage.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Percentage of studies that reported each item in relation to Exercise. Light blue box: Item reported. Orange box: Item partially reported. Red box: Item not reported.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Studies distribution and correlation of the reported items. (A) Histogram representing the distribution of studies according to the items reported by them. (B) Correlation between the number of items reported by each study and the year of publication of the study in the journal (p=0.28, r=0.15, Pearson’s correlation coefficient r). (C) Correlation between the journal’s impact factor (2019) and the number of items reported by each study (p=0.69, r=-0.05, Pearson’s correlation coefficient r).
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