Abstract

An eight-month-old female BALB/c mouse housed and maintained in the Animal Facility of National Brain Research Centre, in accordance with the Committee for Purpose of Control and Supervision of Experiments on Animals (CPCSEA) guidelines, was found to be sick and in distress during the daily health surveillance by a veterinarian. It was found to have delivered four live pups on the previous day. Physical examination of the mouse revealed some membranous mass hanging from the vagina. In addition, there was difficult breathing, distension of the abdomen, head pressing, slightly pale mucus membranes, dehydration and the mouse was minimally responsive to any stimuli. The vulva and vaginal canal were examined for presence of any pups but there were none visible. The abdomen was palpated to confirm presence of pups. After complete clinical examination of the mouse, the condition was diagnosed as dystocia. Four live pups born on the previous day were fostered with a mother which had delivered on the same day to prevent further pain and suffering to the mouse. A caesarean section was planned on emergency basis to remove foetus from uterus. Post-operatively mouse was maintained on cephalexin and meloxicam daily for five days along with antiseptic dressing of surgical wound with povidone iodine daily for seven days till removal of skin sutures. There was uneventful recovery of mouse ten days after surgery.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of dissociative anesthesia in the oral administration of radiolabelled gastro-retentive Metformin tablet in New Zealand White rabbits. The radiolabelled tablet formulation was administered to the rabbit by oral route. In this pilot experiment, it was observed that maximum activity was retained in the oral cavity as compared to gastric area. Hence, to address this problem modification with oral gavaging was done. Intragastric administration of radiolabelled Metformin drug formulation under effect of dissociative anesthesia resulted in 92.6% retention of radioactive tablet in the gastric region with minimal esophageal contamination. Therefore, it was possible to carry out further experiments in these animals with successful administration of tablet followed by sequential scintigraphy imaging at different time intervals. Significant retention was observed up to 6 hrs. Judicious use of dissociative anesthesia helps to attempt the practical problems for oral administration of a tablet in laboratory animals. The procedure can be useful for further pre-clinical testing of newer drug formulations in tablet form.

Abstract

Cryopreservation plays an important role in storing the embryos of unwanted strains of laboratory animals in liquid nitrogen and maintaining the lines in smallest available space. This not only helps in curtailing the unwanted expenditure of maintaining these lines but also saving time and energy. Laboratory Animal Facility of ACTREC is maintaining various strains of mice, rats and hamsters. Our facility has established rodent embryo cryo-bank which acts as a backup for the valuable strains. Initially, we have made a successful attempt by slow freezing and fast thawing method. Considering the recent advances in cryopreservation technique and success rate, we report here an attempt of the cryopreservation of mouse embryos by vitrification technique. In the present study, in all 851 embryos were collected from 132 donor female mice from four strains of different background. An average gain of 7 embryos per female was recorded by natural mating. Collected embryos were stored in 45 cryovials. As a quality control measure and to check the efficiency of newly adopted vitrification protocol, we thawed few vials at periodic interval. The percentage of recovery of embryos was ranging from 91.67% to 97.5%. The lower percentage of 91.67% was found in Smo/Smo strain, while higher percentage of 97.5% was found in outbred, Crl: CD1 (ICR) strain. These embryos were kept in CO2 incubator for 1 hr for maintaining morphology. After incubation, the percentage of embryos maintained morphology in these four strains was ranging from 57.33% to 100%. The lowest percentage 57.33% of morphology was found in spontaneous mutant S/RV/Cri-ba strain. The morphology maintained embryos were surgically transferred in 1.5 day post-coitus pseudo-pregnant female mice of CD1 strain. Out of 17 females, 12 females became pregnant and delivered total 51 live pups which were subsequently weaned and allowed to breed further. The percentage of embryo transferred Vs live births was ranging from 14.89% to 31.03%. Based upon the results, it is evident that there is an increase in overall success of the newly adopted technique of vitrification which is simple and less time consuming than slow freezing and fast thawing method.

Abstract

A rabbit doe which was one and half year old and weighing 2.4 Kg was presented to clinic with history of anorexia, lethargy and constipation. Physical examination revealed difficult breathing, hunched posture, distention of the stomach and abdomen, head pressing, minimally responsive to any stimuli, slightly pale mucus membranes and rectal temperature of 99.9 oF. The radiographic examination revealed gas distended gastric shadow with various degrees of gas filled small or large intestine. After complete clinical examination of rabbit, the condition was diagnosed as gastric dilatation/bloat in rabbit. The rabbit was treated with needle trocarization, intravenous fluid, antibiotics, analgesic/anti-inflammatory drug and laxative. On day 4 of treatment, she was active and behaving normally so all treatment was discontinued and she was discharged on same day.

Abstract

Laboratory mice constitute the most popular animal models used in biomedical research today. Like all animals, even mice housed in barrier facilities are prone to infection. Wild mice (Mus musculus) living near vivaria could serve as a source of infection or infestation in laboratory mouse colonies, although little is known about the prevalence of infectious diseases in wild mouse. Very few surveys have been conducted on wild rodent populations to determine the prevalence of viruses and bacteria and also health monitoring of the wild rodents. Pathogens (bacteria, parasites) often gain entry into colonies through the introduction of infected animals or infected animal products, but viral dissemination via contaminated fomites or local wild rodents has also been implicated in the spread of disease. Hence, a preliminary study was undertaken to determine the prevalence of rodent pathogens and health status in wild mouse populations in and around and Bangalore. The present study revealed that none of the animals tested were positive for viral pathogens. However, bacterial pathogens and parasites were found in wild caught mice. Hematological and serum biochemical parameters were comparable to the colony bred anim