Tsai P P, Stelzer H D, Hedrich H J, Hackbarth H
Institute for Animal Welfare and Behaviour, School of Veterinary Medicine, Hannover, Germany.
Lab Anim. 2003 Oct;37(4):314-27. doi: 10.1258/002367703322389889.
Environmental enrichment is intended to improve the well-being of laboratory animals. Although many researchers have indicated that environmental enrichment may enhance animal well-being, there is some evidence that enrichment differs in its effects on physiology and behaviour between species and strains. The present study focuses on the effects of different enrichment designs on the physiology and behaviour of male and female DBA/2 mice. A total of 48 DBA/2J mice, 24 males and 24 females were used for this experiment. Upon arrival at about 3 weeks of age, the animals were randomly allotted to three experimental groups: NE, non-enrichment; E1, enriched with nest box, wooden climbing bar and nest material according to Scharmann (1993); E2, enriched with horizontal and vertical dividers, modified from Haemisch and Gärtner (1994). Same-sex groups of four mice were housed for 12 weeks in type III Makrolon cages with (E1 or E2) or without (NE) enrichment objects. Behavioural performance (Open Field, Food Drive and Elevated Plus Maze tests) and physiological traits (haematological variables, body weight and organ weights, corticosterone and thyroxine levels) were measured. This study observed that enrichment had significant effects on the mean values of body weight (females), Open Field and Food Drive tests. The most significant housing differences were found between the E2 and NE/E1 groups. Furthermore, sex differences in the NE, E1 and E2 groups were not consistent for several variables (growth rate, relative weights of spleen, kidney and heart, Food Drive and Elevated Plus Maze behavioural performance). There was often a higher coefficient of variation (CV) in the E1 and E2 groups as compared to the NE group, chiefly in physiological traits and in the Open Field and Food Drive tests. The results of this study indicate, that the effects of enrichment designs used in the present study are not consistent, but vary according to sex and the variable studied.
环境富集旨在改善实验动物的健康状况。尽管许多研究人员表明环境富集可能会提高动物的健康水平，但有证据表明，富集对不同物种和品系的生理和行为影响存在差异。本研究聚焦于不同富集设计对雄性和雌性DBA/2小鼠生理和行为的影响。本实验共使用了48只DBA/2J小鼠，其中雄性24只，雌性24只。在约3周龄到达时，将动物随机分配到三个实验组：NE，无富集；E1，根据沙曼（1993年）的方法，配备巢箱、木制攀爬杆和筑巢材料；E2，根据黑米施和加特纳（1994年）的方法进行改造，配备水平和垂直隔板。将每组四只同性小鼠饲养在III型聚碳酸酯笼中12周，并配有（E1或E2）或不配有（NE）富集物品。测量行为表现（旷场试验、食物驱动试验和高架十字迷宫试验）和生理特征（血液学变量、体重和器官重量、皮质酮和甲状腺素水平）。本研究观察到，富集对体重平均值（雌性）、旷场试验和食物驱动试验有显著影响。在E2组与NE/E1组之间发现了最显著的饲养差异。此外，NE、E1和E2组在几个变量（生长速率、脾脏、肾脏和心脏的相对重量、食物驱动和高架十字迷宫行为表现）上的性别差异并不一致。与NE组相比，E1组和E2组的变异系数（CV）通常更高，主要体现在生理特征以及旷场试验和食物驱动试验中。本研究结果表明，本研究中使用的富集设计效果并不一致，而是根据性别和所研究的变量而有所不同。
