The influence of transportation stress on selected nutritional parameters to establish the necessary minimum period for adaptation in rat feeding studies

Abstract

The optimal length of the adaptation period after transportation of rats, to be used in nutritional studies, was investigated in this study. After intracontinental transportation of rats by car and by air to and from the laboratory for a total period of 15 h, measurements were carried out for a period of 3 weeks after transport. Control and transported animals were housed in the same laboratory before and after transportation. During transport the animals had access to food and water. As blood collection could also cause stress, a factorial design was carried out with transport and blood collection as main factors. Transport or blood collection did not cause significant effects on the following parameters: body weight, growth, clinical observation, and blood enzyme activities of LDH and ASAT. Water intake was significantly increased after transport. Food intake did not show consistent effects after transport or blood collection. Unexpectedly, blood corticosterone levels were significantly lower in the transported animals at day 1 after transport. After 3 days these levels were back to normal. Blood glucose, blood free fatty acids and blood urea nitrogen concentrations were incidentally decreased, whereas total cholesterol levels showed an incidental rise in the transported rats. The open-field behaviour test revealed no clear-cut results concerning the effects of transport or blood collection on faeces production, rearing and ambulation. Our results indicate that after intracontinental transport, an adaptation period of 3 days appears to be sufficient for rats to be used in nutritional studies.

Effect of ascorbic acid administration on erythrocyte osmotic fragility in rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) subjected to road transportation

“…The results disagree with the findings of Liste et al (2009), who did not measure EOF, but showed that 8-h lairage was enough for rabbits to recover from stress due to 3-h transportation by road. Similarly, studies in rats and in rabbits have recommended adaptation periods of 3 days and 48 h, respectively, yet periods of 3-5 days after transportation have been recommended for rats used in toxicology studies (Damon et al 1986;Toth & January 1990;van Ruiven et al 1998). The variations in the results may be due to differences in transportation conditions, breed of rabbit, season and variables measured.…”

Effects of Air Transportation Cause Physiological and Biochemical Changes Indicative of Stress Leading to Regulation of Chaperone Expression Levels and Corticosterone Concentration

“…many studies have reported that stress induced by transportation significantly increased the corticosterone concentration in various species of animals including mice, dogs, pigs, and cattle [1,11,20,23]. however, some researches have reported that the blood corticosterone concentration was significantly lowered in transport animals 1 day after transportation [21]. Therefore, we investigated how the stress induced by air transportation affected the corticosterone concentration.…”

“…An increase in GRP78 is known to occur in response to stressful conditions that disrupt the function of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) [3,14]. In addition, it was demonstrated that animals in flight showed a higher concentration of corticosterone (cortisol or adrenal steroid hormone) than controls [10], which was significantly lower in the transported animals 1 day after transport [21]. Thus, stress proteins (HSP70, GRP78) and corticosterone are useful biomarkers of many environmental stresses.…”

Recommendations for the safe transport and delivery of laboratory animals to research centres

“…Συγκεκριμέ να, για τα ζώα εργαστηρίου έχει μελετηθεί η επίδραση του stress στα επίπεδα γλυκόζης στο πλάσμα, όπου πα ρατηρήθηκε σημαντική αΰξησή της σε μΰες (Aguila et al 1988, Tabata et al 1998. Επιπλέον, έχει μελετηθεί η επίδραση του stress της μεταφοράς στο Σ.Β., στην κατανάλωση τροφής και νεροΰ, στη συμπεριφορά και ψυχική υγεία, καθώς και στη μεταβολή βιοχημικών πα ραμέτρων στο αίμα επιμΰων (van Ruiven et al 1998). Κατά συνέπεια, πρέπει να καταβάλλεται κάθε δυνατή προσπάθεια μείωσης του stress της μεταφοράς.…”