Lerch Sandra, Tolksdorf Gabriele, Schütz Patrizia, Brandwein Christiane, Dormann Christof, Gass Peter, Chourbaji Sabine
Interfaculty Biomedical Research Facility, University of Heidelberg, Germany.
Central Institute of Mental Health, Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Germany.
J Am Assoc Lab Anim Sci. 2016;55(5):510-9.
Microbiologic standardization plays a key role in the management of animal facilities because contamination of stock could affect the health status and wellbeing of animals and thereby induce artifacts in biomedical research. One common method to avoid the dissemination of pathogens is embryo transfer (ET). Although disturbances in the perinatal environment may cause long-lasting effects on the behavior and physiology of mouse offspring, the influences of ET during this sensitive phase have not yet been addressed. Our study investigated the effects of various components of ET (anesthesia, surgery, recipient strain) on the behavior of dams (exploration, nest-building) and offspring (nest-building, exploration, anxiety, and social and depressive-like behaviors). For ET, the donor strain C57BL/6N and a standard protocol were used. Whereas treatment with anesthesia-analgesia did not affect maternal behavior, female offspring demonstrated overall effects on weight gain and corticosterone levels. Compared with naturally delivered female offspring, dams obtained through ET demonstrated decreased exploration and nest-building. In addition, female ET-derived offspring had enhanced levels of anxiety and increased social interest. Furthermore, ET-derived dams obtained by using NMRI as the recipient strain showed increased exploratory behavior compared with that of dams obtained by using C57 mice as recipients. Compared with using C57 as recipients, both sexes of offspring transferred into NMRI recipients weighed more, and female mice showed a depressive-like phenotype. Our findings suggest that ET, now considered to be a routine procedure in animal husbandry, bears the risk of introducing artifacts.
微生物标准化在动物设施管理中起着关键作用，因为种群污染可能影响动物的健康状况和福祉，从而在生物医学研究中产生假象。避免病原体传播的一种常见方法是胚胎移植（ET）。尽管围产期环境的干扰可能对小鼠后代的行为和生理产生持久影响，但在这个敏感阶段胚胎移植的影响尚未得到研究。我们的研究调查了胚胎移植的各个组成部分（麻醉、手术、受体品系）对母鼠（探索、筑巢）和后代（筑巢、探索、焦虑以及社交和抑郁样行为）行为的影响。胚胎移植采用供体品系C57BL/6N和标准方案。虽然麻醉镇痛处理不影响母性行为，但雌性后代在体重增加和皮质酮水平方面表现出总体影响。与自然分娩的雌性后代相比，通过胚胎移植获得的母鼠探索和筑巢行为减少。此外，胚胎移植来源的雌性后代焦虑水平升高，社交兴趣增加。此外，以NMRI作为受体品系获得的胚胎移植来源的母鼠与以C57小鼠作为受体获得的母鼠相比，探索行为增加。与以C57作为受体相比，移植到NMRI受体的后代无论雌雄体重都更重，并且雌性小鼠表现出抑郁样表型。我们的研究结果表明，胚胎移植目前被认为是畜牧学中的常规程序，但存在引入假象的风险。
