Doyle R E, Panneton W M, Vogler G A, Romeo J P, Watson B J, Higgins B
Department of Comparative Medicine, St. Louis University School of Medicine, MO 63104.
Lab Anim Sci. 1988 Dec;38(6):667-74.
Muskrats are aquatic rodents of moderate size which are plentiful throughout North America, but are not used commonly in the laboratory. Recently, we tested the feasibility of muskrats as experimental models and have found them to be acquired and cared for easily in conventional laboratory animal facilities. Some of their natural characteristics and diseases are described. The husbandry techniques that we used are presented and form a base for the preparation of future guidelines for the maintenance and use of feral animals in research. The results of some initial experiments testing the muskrat's utility for investigations of cardiorespiratory control mechanisms also are presented. Our data show that even anesthetized muskrats possess brisk and dramatic cardiovascular and respiratory reflexes. Our findings that their brains possess the cytoarchitectural and myeloarchitectural features comparable to other mammals, combined with their relative uniformity in size, has allowed us to locate specific neuronal loci stereotaxically. We suggest that the muskrat be considered as an experimental animal model for studies of the neural control of cardiorespiratory systems.
麝鼠是中等体型的水生啮齿动物，在北美各地数量众多，但在实验室中并不常用。最近，我们测试了将麝鼠作为实验模型的可行性，发现它们可以在传统实验动物设施中轻松获取和饲养。文中描述了它们的一些自然特征和疾病。我们介绍了所采用的饲养技术，这些技术为制定未来关于野生动物在研究中的饲养和使用指南奠定了基础。还展示了一些初步实验的结果，这些实验测试了麝鼠在心肺控制机制研究中的效用。我们的数据表明，即使是麻醉状态下的麝鼠也具有活跃且显著的心血管和呼吸反射。我们发现它们的大脑具有与其他哺乳动物相当的细胞结构和髓鞘结构特征，再加上它们相对一致的体型大小，这使我们能够通过立体定位找到特定的神经元位点。我们建议将麝鼠视为研究心肺系统神经控制的实验动物模型。
