Validation of a minimally invasive blood-sampling technique for the analysis of hormones in domestic rabbits, Oryctolagus cuniculus (Lagomorpha) (2004)

Voigt, C. C., Fassbender, M., Dehnhard, M. et al.

Abstract

Previous studies in small mammals showed that blood-sucking bugs (Reduviidae, Heteroptera) can be used to obtain blood from veins difficult to access by human experimenters. In the present study, we compared concentrations of progesterone, testosterone, and hydrocortisone in blood samples that were acquired from domestic rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) by bugs (Dipetalogaster maxima) with hormone concentrations in blood obtained from the same individual rabbits with a conventional method, i.e., syringe. We found no significant differences in hormone concentrations between the two methods.e showed that deviations in hydrocortisone concentrations between the two blood sampling routines were lower when the bug method was used first and higher when the conventional method was used first. Thus, bugs imposed less stress on the study animals than the conventional method. Overall, we conclude that reduviid bugs present a minimally invasive method for obtaining blood from endotherm animals for endocrinological studies.