The Influence of the Athymic Mutation Nude on the Components of the Orcadian Rhythm of Activity in Mice

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Abstract
The mutation known as nude brings about the lack of a thymus gland in mice. This immuno-deficiency makes it possible to graft normally unaccepted, human cancerous tumors onto the mouse. Consequently, this animal is frequently used as a model for evaluating anti-cancer therapies. The effect of this mutation on biological rhythms constitutes a necessary step before using this model for cancer chronotherapy research. We evaluated the circadian and ultradian components of the restactivity cycle in the following strains of mice: CS7BL/6 with homozygous nu/nu, heterozygous nu/+, thymectomised +/+, and sham-operated +/+. The amount of activity was reduced in nu/nu as compared to the other groups. Nonetheless, neither the nude mutation nor thymectomy yielded any notable change in the circadian rhythm of activity.