Jirkof Paulin
Division of Surgical Research, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, Sternwartstr. 6, CH-8091 Zurich, Switzerland.
J Neurosci Methods. 2014 Aug 30;234:139-46. doi: 10.1016/j.jneumeth.2014.02.001. Epub 2014 Feb 10.
The assessment of pain, distress and suffering, as well as evaluation of the efficacy of stress-reduction strategies, is crucial in animal experimentation but can be challenging in laboratory mice. Nest building and burrowing performance, observed in the home cage, have proved to be valuable and easy-to-use tools to assess brain damage or malfunction as well as neurodegenerative diseases. Both behaviors are used as parameters in models of psychiatric disorders or to monitor sickness behavior following infection. Their use has been proposed in more realistic and clinically relevant preclinical models of disease, and reduction of these behaviors seems to be especially useful as an early sign of dysfunction and to monitor disease progression. Finally, both behaviors are reduced by pain and stress. Therefore, in combination with specific disease markers, changes in nest building and burrowing performance may help provide a global picture of a mouse's state, and thus aid monitoring to ensure well-being in animal experimentation.
在动物实验中，对疼痛、痛苦和折磨的评估以及对减压策略效果的评估至关重要，但在实验室小鼠中可能具有挑战性。在饲养笼中观察到的筑巢和打洞行为，已被证明是评估脑损伤或功能障碍以及神经退行性疾病的有价值且易于使用的工具。这两种行为都被用作精神疾病模型的参数或监测感染后的疾病行为。它们已被提议用于更现实且与临床相关的疾病临床前模型，而这些行为的减少似乎作为功能障碍的早期迹象以及监测疾病进展特别有用。最后，这两种行为都会因疼痛和压力而减少。因此，结合特定的疾病标志物，筑巢和打洞行为的变化可能有助于全面了解小鼠的状态，从而有助于在动物实验中进行监测以确保其健康。
