Research Paper Volume 1, Issue 2 pp 245—253

Figure 4. Effects of Ku86 deficiency and aging on water conservation. The experiment analyzes the response to mild water restriction of 3 months old Ku86^+/+ versus Ku86^-/- mice (left panels) and of 2 months old versus 14-22 months old mice (right panels). (A) Experimental design. Mice were subjected to 3 consecutive periods of different water availability. During period I mice had free access to water and the gel food containing 43% of water. Then, the supplemental drinking water was removed and mice got water only from the gel food (period II). During period III, the amount of water in the gel food was decreased to 30%. The periods lasted 3 days, except period (II) for Ku86^+/+ and Ku86^-/- mice which lasted 2 days. Body weight (B), food consumption (C), Arginine Vasopressin (AVP) excretion (D), urine osmolality (E) and urine volume (F) were measured every 24h. Average values during each period were calculated and normalized to period (I) for the same mouse. Data are represented as mean ±SEM (n=3-5, * P < 0.05 relative to period I, # P<0.05 relative to the same period in the parallel group).