Yoshimoto Takuro, Takahashi Eiki, Yamashita Shunji, Ohara Kiichi, Niimi Kimie
Research Resources Center, RIKEN Brain Science Institute, 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako, Saitama 351-0198, Japan.
O'HARA & CO., LTD., 4-28-16 Ekoda, Nakano-ku, Tokyo 165-0022, Japan.
Exp Anim. 2018 Feb 9;67(1):31-39. doi: 10.1538/expanim.17-0058. Epub 2017 Aug 18.
The provision of adequate space for laboratory animals is essential not only for good welfare but accurate studies. For example, housing conditions for primates used in biomedical research may negatively affect welfare and thus the reliability of findings. In common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus), an appropriate cage size enables a socially harmonious family environment and optimizes reproductive potential. In this study, we investigated the effects of cage size on body weight (BW), behavior, and nursing succession in the common marmoset. Large cages (LCs) with environment enrichment led to an increase in BW while small cages (SCs) caused stereotypic behaviors that were not observed in LCs. In addition, the BW of infants increased with aging in LCs. Our findings indicate that the welfare of marmosets was enhanced by living in LCs. Research on non-human primates is essential for understanding the human brain and developing knowledge-based strategies for the diagnosis and treatment of psychiatric and neurological disorders. Thus, the present findings are important because they indicate that different cages may influence emotional and behavioral phenotypes.
为实验动物提供充足的空间不仅对良好的福利至关重要，对准确的研究也至关重要。例如，用于生物医学研究的灵长类动物的饲养条件可能会对福利产生负面影响，进而影响研究结果的可靠性。在普通狨猴（Callithrix jacchus）中，合适的笼舍大小能营造一个社会和谐的家庭环境，并优化繁殖潜力。在本研究中，我们调查了笼舍大小对普通狨猴体重（BW）、行为和哺乳顺序的影响。配备环境丰富设施的大笼子（LCs）导致体重增加，而小笼子（SCs）则引发了大笼子中未观察到的刻板行为。此外，大笼子中幼猴的体重随年龄增长而增加。我们的研究结果表明，生活在大笼子里可提高狨猴的福利。对非人类灵长类动物的研究对于理解人类大脑以及制定基于知识的精神疾病和神经疾病诊断与治疗策略至关重要。因此，目前的研究结果很重要，因为它们表明不同的笼子可能会影响情绪和行为表型。
