Disease/Experimental Model

Rehoming and other refinements and replacement in procedures using golden hamsters in SARS-CoV-2 vaccine research

Effective vaccines are needed to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. Forty golden hamsters were inoculated with two promising vaccine candidates and eighteen animals were used in pilot trials with viral challenge. ELISA assays were performed to determine endpoint serum titres for...

Year Published: 2023Topics: Disease/Experimental ModelAnimal Type: Hamster, Rodent

Citation: Štrbenc, M., Kuhar, U., Lainšček, D. et al. 2023. Rehoming and other refinements and replacement in procedures using golden hamsters in SARS-CoV-2 vaccine research. Animals 13(16), 2616.

The 3Rs in experimental liver disease

Patients with cirrhosis present multiple physiological and immunological alterations that play a very important role in the development of clinically relevant secondary complications to the disease. Experimentation in animal models is essential to understand the pathogenesis of human diseases and,...

Year Published: 2023Topics: Disease/Experimental ModelAnimal Type: All/General, Mouse, Rat, Rodent

Citation: Martinez-Lopez, S., Angel-Gomis, E., Sanchez-Ardid, E. et al. 2023. The 3Rs in experimental liver disease. Animals 13(14), 2357.

Translational echocardiography: The dog as a clinical research model of cardiac dysfunction

Heart disease is a major contributor to mortality and disability on a global scale. Hence, there is a need for research to improve non-invasive diagnostic techniques. Diseases in dogs with characteristics very similar to those of human pathologies hold promise...

Year Published: 2023Topics: Disease/Experimental ModelAnimal Type: Dog

Citation: Flores Dueñas, C. A., Cordero Yañez, I. A., González, R. M. et al. 2023. Translational echocardiography: The dog as a clinical research model of cardiac dysfunction. Applied Sciences 13(7), 4437.

Post-mortem extracorporeal membrane oxygenation perfusion rat model: A feasibility study

The development of biomedical soft- or hardware frequently includes testing in animals. However, large efforts have been made to reduce the number of animal experiments, according to the 3Rs principle. Simultaneously, a significant number of surplus animals are euthanized without...

Year Published: 2023Topics: Disease/Experimental ModelAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Deininger, M. M., Benner, C.-F., Strudthoff, L. J. et al. 2023. Post-mortem extracorporeal membrane oxygenation perfusion rat model: A feasibility study. Animals 13(22), 3532.

Locomotor activity as an effective measure of the severity of inflammatory arthritis in a mouse model

Objective Mouse models are valuable in preclinical studies of inflammatory arthritis. However, current methods for measuring disease severity or responses to treatment are not optimal. In this study a smart cage system using multiple sensors to measure locomotor activity was...

Year Published: 2024Topics: Disease/Experimental ModelAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Doucet, M. R., Laevski, A. M., Doiron, J. A. et al. 2024. Locomotor activity as an effective measure of the severity of inflammatory arthritis in a mouse model. PLOS ONE 19(1), e0291399.

Comparison of a minimally invasive transthoracic approach and a surgical method for intrapleural injection of tumor cells in mice

Intrapleural injections can be used in mice to deliver therapeutic and diagnostic agents and to model human disease processes (for example, pleural fluid accumulation, malignant pleural disease, and lung cancers). In the context of establishing cancer models, minimally invasive methods...

Year Published: 2023Topics: Disease/Experimental Model, Drug/Substance AdministrationAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Xu, J. J., Lucero, M. Y., Herndon, N. L. et al. 2023. Comparison of a minimally invasive transthoracic approach and a surgical method for intrapleural injection of tumor cells in mice. Comparative Medicine 73(2), 120–126.

BrainWAVE: A flexible method for noninvasive stimulation of brain rhythms across species

Rhythmic neural activity, which coordinates brain regions and neurons to achieve multiple brain functions, is impaired in many diseases. Despite the therapeutic potential of driving brain rhythms, methods to noninvasively target deep brain regions are limited. Accordingly, we recently introduced...

Year Published: 2023Topics: Disease/Experimental ModelAnimal Type: All/General, Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Attokaren, M. K., Jeong, N., Blanpain, L. et al. 2023. BrainWAVE: A flexible method for noninvasive stimulation of brain rhythms across species. ENeuro 10(2) ENEURO.0257-22.2022.

Comparing variability in measurement of subcutaneous tumors in mice using 3D thermal imaging and calipers

Repeatable tumor measurements are key to accurately assessing tumor growth and treatment efficacy. A preliminary study that we conducted showed that a novel 3D and thermal imaging system (3D-TI) for measuring subcutaneous tumors in rodents significantly reduced interoperator variability across...

Year Published: 2022Topics: Disease/Experimental Model, Humane EndpointAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Brough, D. W., Murkin, J. T., Amos, H. E. et al. 2022. Comparing variability in measurement of subcutaneous tumors in mice using 3D thermal imaging and calipers. Comparative Medicine 72(6), 364–375.

Psychosocial stress alters the immune response and results in higher viral load during acute simian immunodeficiency virus infection in a pigtailed macaque model of human immunodeficiency virus

Although social distancing is a key public health response during viral pandemics, psychosocial stressors, such as social isolation, have been implicated in adverse health outcomes in general [1] and in the context of infectious disease, such as human immunodeficiency virus...

Year Published: 2021Topics: Disease/Experimental Model, Social Housing & CompanionshipAnimal Type: Macaque, Nonhuman Primate

Citation: Guerrero-Martin, S. M., Rubin, L. H., McGee, K. M. et al. 2021. Psychosocial stress alters the immune response and results in higher viral load during acute simian immunodeficiency virus infection in a pigtailed macaque model of human immunodeficiency virus. The Journal of Infectious Diseases 224(12), 2113–2121.

Conventional laboratory housing increases morbidity and mortality in research rodents: Results of a meta-analysis

Over 120 million mice and rats are used annually in research, conventionally housed in shoebox-sized cages that restrict natural behaviours (e.g. nesting and burrowing). This can reduce physical fitness, impair thermoregulation and reduce welfare (e.g. inducing abnormal stereotypic behaviours). In...

Year Published: 2022Topics: Disease/Experimental Model, Environmental Enrichment, HousingAnimal Type: Mouse, Rat, Rodent

Citation: Cait, J., Cait, A., Scott, R. W. et al. 2022. Conventional laboratory housing increases morbidity and mortality in research rodents: Results of a meta-analysis. BMC Biology 20(1), 15.