Basic Experimental Methods

The chinchilla as a novel animal model of pregnancy

“…Owing to distinct similarities with humans in the anatomy and physiology of the middle and inner ear as well as the Eustachian tube, the chinchilla is considered an ideal model for a range of auditory diseases, in particular otitis media [30][31][32]. As such, the requirements for laboratory husbandry of chinchillas are well established [8] along with standard operating procedures for basic experimental methods such as appropriate animal handling, body fluid sampling and compound administration [33], paving the way for the use of the chinchilla in other fields in biomedical research. There are no inbred strains or breeds of domestic chinchillas; however, three different varieties are recognized: la plata, costina and raton with small differences in musculature and limb length in addition to different colour variants such as grey, white, black and brown [34].…”

Techniques of Experimentation

“…Percutaneous puncture and bleeding from the jugular vein of rats and other rodents with a needle and syringe have been described (Kassel and Leviton, 1953;Phillips et al, 1973;Huneke, 2012;Hsu et al, 2012;Silverman, 2012). Because the technique is relatively safe, it can be used to collect serial samples.…”

“…Orbital sinus bleeding is performed as in the mouse with the exception that the pipet or tube is placed in the lateral canthus in an orthogonally medial, and not rostromedial, direction. Blood samples may be obtained from a number of sites in chinchillas, including the orbital sinus and a variety of peripheral veins, such as the auricular, femoral, cephalic, dorsal penile, saphenous, lateral abdominal, and tail veins (Tappa et al, 1989;Hsu et al, 2012). For nonsurvival blood collection, cardiocentesis using a 23-gauge, 1-inch needle inserted caudal and slightly to the left of the xiphoid process can be performed, and 3 ml of blood can be collected (Donovan and Brown, 2006).…”