The effect of isoflurane anaesthesia and vasectomy on circulating corticosterone and ACTH in BALB/c mice.

The use of blood corticosterone and faecal corticosterone metabolites as biomarkers of post-surgical stress and pain in laboratory animals has increased during the last decade. However, many aspects of their reliability in laboratory mice remain uninvestigated. This study investigated serum corticosterone and adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) in mice subjected to isoflurane anaesthesia and vasectomy, and mice subjected to isoflurane anaesthesia without surgery. Serum levels of corticosterone and ACTH after pre-treatment with dexamethasone were analysed to provide further information about the stress hormone profiles. Vasectomy resulted in an increase in corticosterone for at least four hours after surgery with a peak 30min after the mice regained righting reflex. Mice subjected to isoflurane anaesthesia without surgery had the highest level of serum corticosterone 5min after regained righting reflex and the level returned to baseline levels four hours after the procedure. In vasectomised mice, treated with dexamethasone, high levels of corticosterone remained 30min after the procedure, whereas the anaesthetised mice, treated with dexamethasone, had significantly lower levels of corticosterone compared to anaesthetised mice not treated with dexamethasone. Thus, dexamethasone effectively inhibited the corticosterone response in the anaesthetised-only mice, but not in the mice subjected to surgery. In conclusion, both isoflurane anaesthesia and vasectomy during isoflurane anaesthesia resulted in an increase in serum glucocorticoids, but the negative feedback mechanism of newly operated mice, was altered. This may have consequences for the interpretation of glucocorticoids measurements as a biomarker of post-surgical stress in mice.

Physiological and Welfare Consequences of Transport, Relocation, and Acclimatization of Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes).

Manipulations of the environments of captive nonhuman primates often have welfare consequences to the animals, including behavioral effects, and for certain manipulations, physiological effects as well. The processes of transporting, relocating, and acclimatizing nonhuman primates across facilities represent manipulations that are likely to have welfare, behavioral, and physiological consequences to the relocated animals. Seventy-two chimpanzees were relocated from the Primate Foundation of Arizona (PFA) in Arizona to the Keeling Center (KCCMR) in Texas. Animals were transported for approximately 21 h in single cages in a USDA-approved, climate-controlled trailer. Chimpanzees were weighed, anesthetized, and blood samples were collected 1) immediately prior to departure from PFA, 2) immediately upon arrival at the KCCMR, and 3) at additional time point(s) between 3 and 12 weeks after arrival at the KCCMR. Chimpanzees were quarantined in familiar pairs or social groups for 60-90 days at the KCCMR. Blood samples were analyzed for hematological and clinical chemistry parameters and compared across time points. In addition, samples from a subset of animals were assayed for cell-mediated immune parameters. Comparisons of the data obtained just prior to transport, to the data obtained immediately upon arrival, revealed numerous statistically significant differences in hematological, clinical chemistry, and immunological parameters. Some of these were indicative of stress, and thus, changes in welfare state, although many remained within the published normal ranges for chimpanzees. Additional analyses showed that many of the clinical chemistry values collected 3 to 12 weeks after arrival at the KCCMR had returned to pre-transport values. In contrast, of the cell-mediated immune parameters that were affected by transport and relocation, few had returned to pre-transport levels 8 weeks after transport, and three of the four hematology variables analyzed had not returned to pre-transport levels 12 weeks after transport. Comparisons of body weights before and immediately after transport revealed that animals lost an average of 2.5 kg during the 21-h transport, a statistically significant reduction that some animals never regained. These results demonstrate that transport and relocation affect a variety of physiological parameters with potential welfare implications and that some of these effects last as long as 3 months. These findings have important implications for the welfare and use of recently transported nonhuman primates, especially chimpanzees, in biomedical research. In order to allow animals to adapt to their new surroundings and to prevent unwanted confounds from influencing experiments, sufficient time must be provided after transport for chimpanzees to acclimatize.

The utility of fecal corticosterone metabolites and animal welfare assessment protocols as predictive parameters of tumor development and animal welfare in a murine xenograft model.

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the utility of various non-invasive parameters for the prediction of tumor development and animal welfare in a murine xenograft model in male C.B-17 SCID (C.B-Igh-1(b)/IcrTac-Prkdc(scid)) mice. The study showed that body weight, food and water consumption, and an animal welfare assessment (AWA) protocol revealed marked differences between control and cancer lines as the size of the tumor increased. However, only the AWA protocol was effective in predicting the tumor size and the level of fecal corticosterone metabolites (FCM). FCM levels were, however, negatively-correlated to the AWA score, and the tumor size, both when evaluated on a given day and when accumulated over the entire period. In conclusion, the present study demonstrated that body weight and food and water consumption were negatively-affected as tumor developed but only the animal welfare protocol could be used to predict tumor size.

The effect of automated blood sampling on corticosterone levels, body weight and daily food intake in permanently catheterized male BALB/c mice.

BACKGROUND/AIM: Automated blood sampling has the benefit of sampling without human intervention, thus minimizing the associated stress response. Since this technique has not been thoroughly investigated in mice, the present study was designed to evaluate this technology in mice. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Male catheterized BALB/c mice were subjected to automated blood sampling, fecal sampling and daily recording of body weight and food intake for three days post-surgery. Corticosterone levels in blood and feces were investigated as biomarkers of stress. RESULTS: Plasma corticosterone levels were elevated, and the circadian rhythm was disrupted as reflected in both plasma and feces. The body weight and daily food intake declined for the first two days post-surgery and increased at day three. DISCUSSION: These results demonstrate that surgery and subsequent automated blood sampling induce a stress response for up to three days post-surgery, and it is concluded that further refinement of this technique is essential.