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Table 1 Murine Sepsis Score (MSS) to assess the severity of disease in an experimental model of fecal-induced peritonitis

From: A robust scoring system to evaluate sepsis severity in an animal model

Variable

Score and description

Appearance

0- Coat is smooth

1- Patches of hair piloerected

2- Majority of back is piloerected

3- Piloerection may or may not be present, mouse appears “puffy”

4- Piloerection may or may not be present, mouse appears emaciated

Level of consciousness

0- Mouse is active

1- Mouse is active but avoids standing upright

2- Mouse activity is noticeably slowed. The mouse is still ambulant.

3- Activity is impaired. Mouse only moves when provoked, movements have a tremor

4- Activity severely impaired. Mouse remains stationary when provoked, with possible tremor

Activity

0- Normal amount of activity. Mouse is any of: eating, drinking, climbing, running, fighting

1- Slightly suppressed activity. Mouse is moving around bottom of cage

2- Suppressed activity. Mouse is stationary with occasional investigative movements

3- No activity. Mouse is stationary

4- No activity. Mouse experiencing tremors, particularly in the hind legs

Response to stimulus

0- Mouse responds immediately to auditory stimulus or touch

1- Slow or no response to auditory stimulus; strong response to touch (moves to escape)

2- No response to auditory stimulus; moderate response to touch (moves a few steps)

3- No response to auditory stimulus; mild response to touch (no locomotion)

4- No response to auditory stimulus. Little or no response to touch. Cannot right itself if pushed over

Eyes

0- Open

1- Eyes not fully open, possibly with secretions

2- Eyes at least half closed, possibly with secretions

3- Eyes half closed or more, possibly with secretions

4- Eyes closed or milky

Respiration rate

0- Normal, rapid mouse respiration

1- Slightly decreased respiration (rate not quantifiable by eye)

2- Moderately reduced respiration (rate at the upper range of quantifying by eye)

3- Severely reduced respiration (rate easily countable by eye, 0.5 s between breaths)

4- Extremely reduced respiration (>1 s between breaths)

Respiration quality

0- Normal

1- Brief periods of laboured breathing

2- Laboured, no gasping

3- Laboured with intermittent gasps

 

4- Gasping