Hoggatt Amber F, Hoggatt Jonathan, Honerlaw Meghan, Pelus Louis M
Biological Resources Laboratory, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
J Am Assoc Lab Anim Sci. 2010 May;49(3):329-34.
Oral gavage is a common route of precise oral dosing for studies in rodents. Complications including tracheal administration, esophageal trauma, and aspiration are common and usually related to animal resistance to the procedure, and the stress induced by oral gavage can be a confounding variable in many studies. The taste of sucrose conveys a pacifying and analgesic effect in newborns, whereas sour solutions can induce the swallow reflex in humans that are dysphagic. We hypothesized that precoating a gavage needle with sucrose or citrate (or both) would pacify mice and induce them to swallow, reducing the stress and complications associated with the technique. To validate this hypothesis, we quantitated time to passage, stress-related behavioral reactions to the procedure, and plasma corticosterone levels in mice after precoating gavage needles with water, sucrose, citrate, sucrose and citrate, or sodium chloride prior to oral gavage. Precoating needles with sucrose reduced the time to passage, decreased observable stress-related reactions to the procedure, and maintained plasma corticosterone levels similar to those in ungavaged control mice. Coating needles with water, sucrose and citrate, or citrate had no beneficial effects on these parameters. Our findings describe a novel, validated technique that measurably decreases signs of stress and thereby improves animal welfare during oral gavage. Furthermore, the use of sucrose may be a valuable tool to refine other minor or nonsurgical procedures in the field of laboratory animal research.
灌胃是啮齿动物研究中精确口服给药的常用途径。包括气管给药、食管创伤和误吸在内的并发症很常见，通常与动物对该操作的抵抗有关，并且灌胃引起的应激在许多研究中可能是一个混杂变量。蔗糖的味道对新生儿有安抚和镇痛作用，而酸性溶液可诱发吞咽困难的人的吞咽反射。我们假设用蔗糖或柠檬酸盐（或两者）预涂灌胃针会使小鼠安静并诱导它们吞咽，从而减少与该技术相关的应激和并发症。为了验证这一假设，我们在给小鼠灌胃前，用清水、蔗糖、柠檬酸盐、蔗糖和柠檬酸盐或氯化钠预涂灌胃针，然后对小鼠的通过时间、与应激相关的行为反应以及血浆皮质酮水平进行定量。用蔗糖预涂针可缩短通过时间，减少可观察到的与该操作相关的应激反应，并使血浆皮质酮水平维持在与未灌胃对照小鼠相似的水平。用水、蔗糖和柠檬酸盐或柠檬酸盐涂覆针对这些参数没有有益影响。我们的研究结果描述了一种经过验证的新技术，该技术可显著减少应激迹象，从而在灌胃过程中改善动物福利。此外，蔗糖的使用可能是改进实验动物研究领域其他小型或非手术操作的有价值工具。
