Investigation of a novel refined oral dosing method (2007)

Rourke, C., Pemberton, D. J.

Abstract

Over six days, male Lister Hooded rats wre trained to drink from a syringe containing either a 5-10% surose solution or 1mg/ml donepezil suspended in 5-10% sucrose solution. After just a few days training, there were significant reductions in the average time taken for animals to drink their respective treatments. Moreover, on day six, animals' consumption of their respective treatments via the syringe was far quicker than the oral gavage method. In summary, the novel oral dosing method clearly offers a number of advantages over the oral gavage method in reducing restraint-induced stress and potential oesophageal injury.