ABSTRACT
Telemetric monitoring is used in many scientific fields, such as cardiovascular research, neurology, endocrinology, as well as animal welfare research. Nowadays, implanted electrocardiogram (ECG) radiotelemetry units are the gold standard for monitoring ECG traces, heart rate and heart rate variability in freely moving mice. Telemetry technology can be a valuable tool when studies utilize it adequately, while prioritizing animal welfare. Recently, concerns have been raised in many research fields, including animal research, regarding the reproducibility of research findings, with insufficient reporting being one of the underlying causes.A systematic review was performed by making use of three literature databases, in order to include all publications until 31.12.2019, where the surgical placing of ECG recording telemetry devices in adult mice was involved. Data extracted from the publications included selected items recommended by the ARRIVE guidelines. We focused on aspects related to the refinement of the surgery and experimental conditions that aim to improve animal welfare. In general, the quality of reporting was low in the analyzed 234 publications. Based on our analyses, we assume there has been no improvement in this field's reporting quality since 2010 when the ARRIVE guidelines on reporting were introduced. Additionally, even though expert recommendations on telemetry surgery refinement have been available since many years now, no increase in uptake (or reporting) of these measures prior (e.g., acclimatization), during (e.g., asepsis) or after (e.g., social housing) the surgery could be observed.
Subject(s)
Animal Experimentation , Electrocardiography , Animals , Mice , Reproducibility of Results , Heart Rate , TelemetryABSTRACT
Alzheimer's Disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by a progressive loss of memory and a general cognitive decline leading to dementia. AD is characterized by changes in the behavior of the genome and can be traced across multiple brain regions and cell types. It is mainly associated with ß-amyloid deposits and tau protein misfolding, leading to neurofibrillary tangles. In recent years, however, research has shown that there is a high complexity of mechanisms involved in AD neurophysiology and functional decline enabling its diverse presentation and allowing more questions to arise. In this study, we present a computational approach to facilitate brain region-specific analysis of genes and biological processes involved in the memory process in AD. Utilizing current genetic knowledge we provide a gene set of 265 memory-associated genes in AD, combinations of which can be found co-expressed in 11 different brain regions along with their functional role. The identified genes participate in a spectrum of biological processes ranging from structural and neuronal communication to epigenetic alterations and immune system responses. These findings provide new insights into the molecular background of AD and can be used to bridge the genotype-phenotype gap and allow for new therapeutic hypotheses.
Subject(s)
Alzheimer Disease , Biological Phenomena , Cognitive Dysfunction , Alzheimer Disease/metabolism , Amyloid beta-Peptides/metabolism , Brain/metabolism , Cognitive Dysfunction/metabolism , Humans , tau Proteins/metabolismABSTRACT
Telemetric monitoring is used in many scientific fields, such as cardiovascular research, neurology, endocrinology, animal welfare research and many more. Nowadays, implanted electrocardiogram (ECG) radiotelemetry units are the gold standard for monitoring ECG traces, heart rate and heart rate variability in freely moving mice. This technology can be a valuable tool when studies utilise it adequately, while also prioritizing animal welfare. Recently, concerns about the reproducibility of research findings have been raised in many scientific fields with insufficient reporting being one of the underlying causes. A systematic review was performed in three literature databases to include all published studies until 31.12.2019 using surgery that involves the placing of ECG recording telemetry devices in adult mice. Data extracted from the publications included selected items recommended by the ARRIVE guidelines and SYRCLE`s tool for assessing risk of bias. We focused on aspects related to quality of reporting, risk of bias reduction measures and ECG measurements characteristics. In general, the quality of reporting was low to moderate in the 234 analyzed publications regarding the animal, husbandry, statistics, and risk of bias related items, but good for more specific telemetry study characteristics. Based on our analyses we assume that there is no or only slight improvement in the reporting quality since 2010, when the ARRIVE guidelines were published.
