The laboratory rat
Maternal behaviour is crucial for the development of the rat pups’ behaviour and stress responses later in life. There are numerous studies evaluating the effects of the dams’ behaviours on the pups, but not many addressing what can be made for wellbeing of the rat dams when breeding. Few studies ha...
| Autor principal: | |
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| Formato: | Second cycle, A1N, A1F or AXX |
| Lenguaje: | sueco Inglés |
| Publicado: |
2011
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| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: | https://stud.epsilon.slu.se/3304/ |
| _version_ | 1855570550099804160 |
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| author | Cannervik, Sara |
| author_browse | Cannervik, Sara |
| author_facet | Cannervik, Sara |
| author_sort | Cannervik, Sara |
| collection | Epsilon Archive for Student Projects |
| description | Maternal behaviour is crucial for the development of the rat pups’ behaviour and stress
responses later in life. There are numerous studies evaluating the effects of the dams’
behaviours on the pups, but not many addressing what can be made for wellbeing of the rat
dams when breeding. Few studies have addressed the question of how the commonly used
rearing environment effects the dams’ behaviour and in the long run how it effect the rats
reared to become our research models. In this study, rats were therefore reared in two
different cage systems; one cage type with elevated top and enriched by a shelf and climbable
netting (RT) was compared to the type of cage most commonly used today, the makrolon type
IV cage (M IV). Dams were equipped with telemetrical devices to measure activity, blood
pressure and heart rate, and direct observations of their maternal behaviour were made. Urine
corticosterone/creatinine quote was measured and behavioural tests (defensive withdrawal
test, elevated plus maze test and open field with novel object) were performed in both dams
and pups. The dams in the RT cages showed more activity and a transient increase in blood
pressure, and a tendency towards less urine corticosterone levels. They also spent less time
licking/grooming and arched back nursing their young. The pups showed differences in urine
corticosterone levels as well as in the behavioural tests, where the RT pups had significantly
less corticosterone excretion, and showed less fearful and anxiety-like behaviours in the
behavioural tests. There were greater differences between the groups of female pups than
between the male ones, pointing to the female pups being more sensitive to improvements of
the environment. We have shown that the rat dams’ activity increases and stress decreases in
the RT enriched cage, and that the rat pups from the RT cages show less stress response, less
fearful and less anxiety-like behaviours even though the dams spend less time
licking/grooming and arched back nursing them. These findings support the argument that an
enriched optimised environment and voluntary maternal separation give mentally healthier
rats, possibly better as a model for mentally healthy humans. |
| format | Second cycle, A1N, A1F or AXX |
| id | RepoSLU3304 |
| institution | Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences |
| language | swe Inglés |
| publishDate | 2011 |
| publishDateSort | 2011 |
| record_format | eprints |
| spelling | RepoSLU33042012-04-20T14:22:41Z https://stud.epsilon.slu.se/3304/ The laboratory rat Cannervik, Sara Animal genetics and breeding Animal physiology and biochemistry Animal physiology - Growth and development Maternal behaviour is crucial for the development of the rat pups’ behaviour and stress responses later in life. There are numerous studies evaluating the effects of the dams’ behaviours on the pups, but not many addressing what can be made for wellbeing of the rat dams when breeding. Few studies have addressed the question of how the commonly used rearing environment effects the dams’ behaviour and in the long run how it effect the rats reared to become our research models. In this study, rats were therefore reared in two different cage systems; one cage type with elevated top and enriched by a shelf and climbable netting (RT) was compared to the type of cage most commonly used today, the makrolon type IV cage (M IV). Dams were equipped with telemetrical devices to measure activity, blood pressure and heart rate, and direct observations of their maternal behaviour were made. Urine corticosterone/creatinine quote was measured and behavioural tests (defensive withdrawal test, elevated plus maze test and open field with novel object) were performed in both dams and pups. The dams in the RT cages showed more activity and a transient increase in blood pressure, and a tendency towards less urine corticosterone levels. They also spent less time licking/grooming and arched back nursing their young. The pups showed differences in urine corticosterone levels as well as in the behavioural tests, where the RT pups had significantly less corticosterone excretion, and showed less fearful and anxiety-like behaviours in the behavioural tests. There were greater differences between the groups of female pups than between the male ones, pointing to the female pups being more sensitive to improvements of the environment. We have shown that the rat dams’ activity increases and stress decreases in the RT enriched cage, and that the rat pups from the RT cages show less stress response, less fearful and less anxiety-like behaviours even though the dams spend less time licking/grooming and arched back nursing them. These findings support the argument that an enriched optimised environment and voluntary maternal separation give mentally healthier rats, possibly better as a model for mentally healthy humans. 2011-10-04 Second cycle, A1N, A1F or AXX NonPeerReviewed application/pdf swe https://stud.epsilon.slu.se/3304/1/cannervik_s_111004.pdf Cannervik, Sara, 2011. The laboratory rat : improved welfare for mothers and pups through breeding in an enriched environment?. Second cycle, A1N, A1F or AXX ( AXX). Uppsala: (VH) > Dept. of Clinical Sciences (until 231231) <https://stud.epsilon.slu.se/view/divisions/OID-715.html> urn:nbn:se:slu:epsilon-s-643 eng |
| spellingShingle | Animal genetics and breeding Animal physiology and biochemistry Animal physiology - Growth and development Cannervik, Sara The laboratory rat |
| title | The laboratory rat |
| title_full | The laboratory rat |
| title_fullStr | The laboratory rat |
| title_full_unstemmed | The laboratory rat |
| title_short | The laboratory rat |
| title_sort | laboratory rat |
| topic | Animal genetics and breeding Animal physiology and biochemistry Animal physiology - Growth and development |
| url | https://stud.epsilon.slu.se/3304/ https://stud.epsilon.slu.se/3304/ |