The current treatments for obesity, a major public health problem, are of limited and transient effectiveness, making the study of disorders of energy homeostasis highly significant. The Columbus Instruments (Columbus, OH) environmentally controlled Comprehensive Laboratory Animal Measurement System (CLAMS) is the most advanced piece of equipment available for the monitoring of multiple metabolic parameters in a single system. The maintenance of energy homeostasis requires a balance between energy intake (food consumed) and energy expenditure (activity, metabolic rate and maintenance of core body temperature). The power of this CLAMS system derives from its ability to measure all of these parameters continuously in 12 mice in a single environmentally controlled unit. This allows for the collection of the full spectrum of data related to the regulation of energy homeostasis from a single set of animals in a single experiment. This fully automated system also has the capacity to control the access of the mice to food based on time or mass consumed. The Vanderbilt Mouse Metabolic Phenotyping Center (VMMPC) was founded in 2001 to advance medical and biological research by providing the scientific community with standardized, high quality phenotyping services for mouse models of diabetes, diabetic complications, and obesity. The CLAMS system will become an integral part of the Vanderbilt MMPC replacing existing out-dated and technologically limited equipment. The comprehensive nature of the CLAMS system will allow us to detect subtle changes in energy homeostasis induced by pharmacological, genetic or nutritional modifications significantly advancing studies in numerous research projects throughout Vanderbilt University and the wider research community.
