Daily fluid consumption from 11–22 weeks of age.

<p>(A) Despite fluctuations in daily water intake over the course of the study, Veh MRL +/+ mice consumed the most water in the 2-bottle test. They also drank significantly more than their CY +/+ counterparts, a trend that was not noted in the MRL/lpr substrain. (B) Lacing sweetened solution with CY significantly reduced daily consumption. However, autoimmune MRL/lpr mice consumed significantly less CY solution in comparison to MRL +/+ mice, particularly after the first week of treatment.</p

Behavioural effects of chronic exposure to CY/sucrose solution.

<p>(A) Chronic immunosuppression reduced step-down latency in diseased MRL/lpr mice, but had the opposite effect on congenic controls. (B) In addition to the previously-documented substrain differences in sucrose consumption <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0100684#pone.0100684-Sakic3" target="_blank">[24]</a>, CY had a significant detrimental effect on the performance in both groups. (C) Although a trend was noted, CY could not abolish previously-reported differences in overall floating in the forced swim test <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0100684#pone.0100684-Sakic2" target="_blank">[23]</a>. (D) Prolonged immunosuppression improved spontaneous ambulatory activity in MRL/lpr mice, but had a detrimental effect on MRL +/+ controls. (E) Conversely, CY exposure significantly improved (but did not normalize) running wheel activity in MRL/lpr mice.</p

Weekly preference for sweet solutions.

<p>Initially, CY lpr mice displayed a higher preference for CY/sucrose in comparison to control CY +/+ group at 11 weeks of age. However, this difference was transient and became the lowest of all groups by the end of the study.</p

Mean body weight from 11–22 weeks of age.

<p>Autoimmune MRL/lpr mice were significantly lighter when compared to congenic controls. However, prolonged immunosuppression further reduced their body weight, but not in MRL +/+ mice.</p

Weekly CY dose ingested.

<p>Although both substrains received similar CY dose at the starting of the treatment period, voluntary drinking in subsequent weeks was higher in less symptomatic MRL +/+ than in MRL/lpr mice.</p