Naïve mice were housed in a fume hood up to 24 h before dissection. On the day of dissection, cages were removed from the hood one at a time. The individual cages were placed on a cart on the far end of the room, separated from the dissection area. Individual mice were removed from each cage one at a time, while their body weight, coat color, sex, birth and histology dates were noted. This was performed calmly so as to minimize the possibility of sympathetic nervous system activation, which might ultimately affect adrenal weights (Ulrich-Lai et al. 2006). The individual mice were subject to cervical dislocation and their abdominal cavities opened. Whole kidneys were removed one at a time with the adrenal glands attached. The adrenal glands were identified with the naked eye, as they are lighter flesh-colored compared with the surrounding tissue and are often either attached directly to the kidney or within the connective tissue just anterior to the organ. The adrenal glands of males are generally smaller than those of females. The sample was transferred to the
