Vogt Miriam Annika, Geiger Lisa Marie Joy, Härtel Talia, Follert Philipp, Palme Rupert, Chourbaji Sabine
Interfaculty Biomedical Research Facility (IBF), University Heidelberg, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany.
Unit of Physiology, Pathophysiology and Experimental Endocrinology, Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Veterinary Medicine, 1210 Vienna, Austria.
Animals (Basel). 2021 May 12;11(5):1375. doi: 10.3390/ani11051375.
Ensuring optimal housing conditions for laboratory animals is a crucial prerequisite for high-quality and ethically justifiable in vivo science. In addition to guaranteeing animal welfare and promoting scientific validity, environmental sustainability is also increasingly gaining attention in laboratory animal facilities. Consequently, comprehensive management of such aspects is one of the core tasks of any research vivarium. Hygienic monitoring and adhering to standardized experimental protocols have been highlighted in the past; nevertheless, various environmental aspects of housing animals still need to be evaluated in greater depth. In this pilot study, we aimed at assessing the suitability of spelt and corncob as economical and ecologically friendly bedding substrates as compared with commonly used aspen wood chips. Therefore, following a descriptive study design, we examined the preferences of male and female Wistar rats for corncob and spelt under specific conditions. In addition, we evaluated potential effects on behavior, metabolism, and stress physiology. The type of bedding did not seem to influence behavior in the observed parameters but did have time- and sex-dependent effects on blood glucose. Furthermore, housing animals on spelt led to a significant reduction in food consumption, probably compensated for by the intake of spelt, and although it did not influence glucose levels, it may have certainly impacted the nutrient supply. Our descriptive pilot study, therefore, highlights the importance of a thorough condition-associated evaluation of even seemingly marginal environmental factors, when balancing potential cost-benefit advances in sustainability and questions of standardization and reproducibility of experimental protocols.
确保实验动物的最佳饲养条件是高质量且符合伦理的体内科学研究的关键前提。除了保障动物福利和提高科学有效性外，环境可持续性在实验动物设施中也越来越受到关注。因此，对这些方面进行全面管理是任何研究动物饲养室的核心任务之一。过去曾强调卫生监测和遵守标准化实验方案；然而，动物饲养的各种环境方面仍需更深入地评估。在这项试点研究中，我们旨在评估与常用的白杨木屑相比，斯佩尔特小麦和玉米芯作为经济且生态友好的垫料基质的适用性。因此，按照描述性研究设计，我们在特定条件下研究了雄性和雌性Wistar大鼠对玉米芯和斯佩尔特小麦的偏好。此外，我们评估了对行为、新陈代谢和应激生理学的潜在影响。垫料类型似乎并未影响所观察参数中的行为，但对血糖有时间和性别依赖性影响。此外，用斯佩尔特小麦饲养动物导致食物消耗显著减少，这可能由摄入的斯佩尔特小麦弥补，并且尽管它没有影响血糖水平，但肯定可能影响了营养供应。因此，我们的描述性试点研究强调了在平衡可持续性方面潜在的成本效益进展以及实验方案的标准化和可重复性问题时，对即使看似微不足道的环境因素进行与条件相关的全面评估的重要性。
