Your browser doesn't support javascript.
loading
Show: 20 | 50 | 100
Results 1 - 7 de 7
Filter
Add more filters










Database
Language
Publication year range
1.
Front Vet Sci ; 9: 1031976, 2022.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-36337207

ABSTRACT

The science and technology of laboratory animals has come a long way worldwide, but for reasons related to the development of the countries, this journey started later in some Latin American countries, as is the case of Argentina. Without a specific legal framework to conduct animal experimentation, local strengths to promote animal welfare are based on professionals specifically trained in the care of laboratory animals as well as an extended network of ethics committees that ensures compliance with the ethical principles applied to animal experimentation. Nevertheless, there are no updated reports showing welfare indicators in rodent facilities. Therefore, we conducted a survey on mice breeding facilities enrolled in a national record elaborated by the National Ministry of Science. Questions related to four of the Five Domains Model of Mellor, concerning (1) nutrition, (2) physical environment, (3) health, and (4) behavioral interactions with the environment, other animals, and humans, were included as well as information concerning general aspects of the establishments. Data obtained from 25 mice breeder facilities localized all over the country were summarized, providing for the first time a clear picture of the national situation about the welfare of laboratory mice in these establishments. This data will be essential to design future policy as well as for deciding priorities aiming to improve the welfare of mice bred in Argentinian facilities.

2.
J Vis Exp ; (181)2022 03 04.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-35311816

ABSTRACT

Judgment biases (JB) are differences in the way that individuals in positive and negative affective/emotional states interpret ambiguous information. This phenomenon has long been observed in humans, with individuals in positive states responding to ambiguity 'optimistically' and those in negative states instead showing 'pessimism'. Researchers aiming to assess animal affect have taken advantage of these differential responses, developing tasks to assess judgment bias as an indicator of affective state. These tasks are becoming increasingly popular across diverse species and fields of research. However, for laboratory mice, the most widely used vertebrates in research and a species heavily relied upon to model affective disorders, only one JB task has been successfully validated as sensitive to changes in affective state. Here, we provide a detailed description of this novel murine JB task, and evidence of its sensitivity to mouse affect. Though refinements are still necessary, assessment of mouse JB opens the door for answering both practical questions regarding mouse welfare, and fundamental questions about the impact of affective state in translational research.


Subject(s)
Emotions , Judgment , Animals , Behavior, Animal/physiology , Bias , Emotions/physiology , Judgment/physiology , Mice , Smell
3.
Behav Neurosci ; 135(3): 380-388, 2021 Jun.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-34264691

ABSTRACT

Environmental enrichment (EE) has been a widely used tool to improve animal welfare, as well as to study brain plasticity. Traditional EE settings in the field of neuroscience employ highly complex cages with numerous objects and increased space, whereas more simple additions included for the control treatment are rarely considered in the experimental design. This leads to a lack of consistency of what neuroscientists designate as "standard housing," which might compromise the reproducibility of the results. Therefore, we employed standard-sized cages to study how different EE configurations can affect several biological markers of animal welfare. We first compared barren cages with cages containing nest material and a cardboard roll or cages having a complex set of elements. For this purpose, we studied anxiety-like behavior, corticosterone metabolites in feces, and cell survival in the hippocampus. Complex enrichment (CE) increased the concentration of corticosterone metabolites while also decreasing anxiety-like behavior. Interestingly, both simple and CEs were able to promote cell survival in the hippocampus, and this measure was positively correlated to corticosterone metabolites. Furthermore, in a second experiment, one of the elements of the CE was able to reduce anxiety-like behavior and blood glucose reactivity after exposure to a stressful situation. Altogether, this study calls attention about how sensitive experimental outcomes are to these simple EE elements. Even though EE is recommended by most guidelines for the care and use of laboratory animals, a detailed analysis of the EE protocol that is going to be implemented is highly encouraged. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).


Subject(s)
Environment , Exploratory Behavior , Animals , Behavior, Animal , Corticosterone , Female , Housing, Animal , Mice , Reproducibility of Results
4.
Front Cell Neurosci ; 13: 384, 2019.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-31555094

ABSTRACT

Neurotrophic factors are relevant regulators of the neurogenic process at different levels. In particular, the brain-derived neurotrophic factor, BDNF, is highly expressed in the hippocampus (HC) of rodents and participates in the control of neuronal proliferation, and survival in the dentate gyrus (DG). Likewise, serotonin is also involved in the regulation of neurogenesis, though its role is apparently more complex. Indeed, both enhancement of serotonin neurotransmission as well as serotonin depletion, paradoxically increase neuronal survival in the HC of mice. In this study, we analyzed the protein expression of the BDNF isoforms, i.e., pro- and mature-BDNF, and their respective receptors p75 and TrkB, in the HC of mice chronically treated with para-chloro-phenyl-alanine (PCPA), an inhibitor of serotonin synthesis. The same analysis was conducted in hyposerotonergic mice with concomitant administration of the 5-HT1 A receptor agonist, 8-Hydroxy-2-(di-n- propylamino) tetralin (8-OH-DPAT). Increased expression of p75 receptor with decreased expression of pro-BDNF was observed after chronic PCPA. Seven-day treatment with 8-OH-DPAT reestablished the expression of pro-BDNF modified by PCPA, and induced an increase in the expression of p75 receptor. It has been demonstrated that PCPA-treated mice have higher number of immature neurons in the HC. Given that immature neurons participate in the pattern separation process, the object pattern separation test was conducted. A better performance of hyposerotonergic mice was not confirmed in this assay. Altogether, our results show that molecules in the BDNF signaling pathway are differentially expressed under diverse configurations of the serotonergic system, allowing for fine-tuning of the neurogenic process.

5.
Cancer Chemother Pharmacol ; 83(4): 681-692, 2019 04.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-30661096

ABSTRACT

Platinum-based drugs, mainly cisplatin, are used for the treatment of several solid tumors such as OS. However, cisplatin treatment often results in the development of chemoresistance, leading therapeutic failure. We have previously reported that platinum complexes containing 8-hydroxyquinoline ligands have good antitumor activity against different cancer cell lines and with a different and better cytotoxic profile than cisplatin. Here, the anticancer properties of two different quinoline-platinum complexes [Pt(Cl)2(quinoline)(dmso)] (1) [PtCl(8-O-quinoline)(dmso)] (2) on in vitro (2D and 3D) and in vivo models (xenograft tumor of human osteosarcoma in mice) are presented. In this order, [PtCl(8-O-quinoline)(dmso)] (2) impaired cell viability to have a more pronounced antitumor effect than cisplatin on MG-63 osteosarcoma cells (IC50 4 µM vs. 39 µM). Besides, [PtCl(8-O-quinoline)(dmso)] (2) increased ROS production in a dose-manner response and this compound induced early and late apoptotic fractions of human osteosarcoma cells. Finally, [PtCl(8-O-quinoline)(dmso)] (2) decreased the cell viability of multicellular spheroids and reduced the tumor volume on athymic nude mice N:NIH(S) Fox1nu without inducing side effects. In this way, [PtCl(8-O-quinoline)(dmso)] (2) did not alter the normal cytoarchitecture of liver and kidney and the blood biomarkers (GPT, GOT, uremia, and creatinine) did not suffer modifications. Taken together, our data indicate that these compounds showed a better anticancer performance than cisplatin on in vitro and in vivo studies. These results showed the importance of chelation in the antitumor properties, suggesting that the [PtCl(8-O-quinoline)(dmso)] (2) might be a promising agent for the treatment of human osteosarcoma tumors resistant to cisplatin.


Subject(s)
Antineoplastic Agents/pharmacology , Bone Neoplasms/drug therapy , Osteosarcoma/drug therapy , Platinum Compounds/pharmacology , Quinolines/chemistry , Animals , Antineoplastic Agents/administration & dosage , Antineoplastic Agents/chemistry , Bone Neoplasms/pathology , Cell Survival/drug effects , Cisplatin/pharmacology , Dose-Response Relationship, Drug , Drug Resistance, Neoplasm , Humans , Inhibitory Concentration 50 , Male , Mice , Mice, Nude , Osteosarcoma/pathology , Platinum Compounds/administration & dosage , Platinum Compounds/chemistry , Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays
6.
Lab Anim ; 53(4): 352-361, 2019 Aug.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-30131002

ABSTRACT

We have developed a new method for the measurement of subcutaneous tumour volume which consists in taking photographs of mice in their home cages, to refine the standard method of measurement with calipers. We consider this new method to be non-aversive, as it may be more compatible with mice behavioural preferences and, therefore, improve their welfare. Photographs are captured when mice voluntarily go into an acrylic tube containing graph paper that is later used as a scale. Tumour volumes measured with the caliper and the non-aversive photographic method were compared to those obtained by water displacement volume and weight. Behavioural and physiological changes were evaluated to assess animal welfare. Significant differences were found between measurements obtained with the caliper and the non-aversive photographic method, v. the reference volume acquired by water displacement (P < 0.001). Nevertheless, there was good consistency for these measurements when tumours were measured repeatedly, with all Intra-Class Correlation Coefficients above 0.95. Mice on which the non-aversive photographic method was employed were significantly less reluctant to establish contact with the experimenter (P < 0.001) and behaved less anxiously in a modified-Novelty Suppressed Feeding test. Particularly, statistically significant differences were found in connection with the latency to eat an almond piece (P < 0.05), the frequency of grooming (P < 0.001) and the frequency of defecation (P < 0.001). Corticosterone concentration in faeces and blood glucose were determined and no significant changes were found. Therefore, we propose the non-aversive photographic method to measure subcutaneous tumours as a way to refine methodologies in the field of experimental oncology.


Subject(s)
Mice, Nude , Photography/methods , Rodent Diseases/diagnostic imaging , Soft Tissue Neoplasms/diagnostic imaging , Tumor Burden , Animals , Female , Male , Mice , Specific Pathogen-Free Organisms
7.
J Biol Inorg Chem ; 21(8): 1009-1020, 2016 Dec.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-27696106

ABSTRACT

Osteosarcoma (OS) is the most common primary tumor of bone, occurring predominantly in the second decade of life. High-dose cytotoxic chemotherapy and surgical resection have improved prognosis, with long-term survival for patients with localized disease. Vanadium is an ultra-trace element that after being absorbed accumulates in bone. Besides, vanadium compounds have been studied during recent years to be considered as representative of a new class of non-platinum antitumor agents. Moreover, flavonoids are a wide family of polyphenolic compounds that display many interesting biological effects. Since coordination of ligands to metals can improve the pharmacological properties, we report herein, for the first time, the in vitro and in vivo effects of an oxidovanadium(IV) complex with the flavonoid chrysin on the new 3D human osteosarcoma and xenograft osteosarcoma mice models. The pharmacological results show that VOchrys inhibited the cell viability affecting the shape and volume of the spheroids and VOchrys suppressed MG-63 tumor growth in the nude mice without inducing toxicity and side effects. As a whole, the results presented herein demonstrate that the antitumor action of the complex was very promissory on human osteosarcoma models, whereby suggesting that VOchrys is a potentially good candidate for future use in alternative antitumor treatments.


Subject(s)
Bone Neoplasms/drug therapy , Coordination Complexes/pharmacology , Flavonoids/pharmacology , Osteosarcoma/drug therapy , Spheroids, Cellular/drug effects , Vanadium/pharmacology , Animals , Bone Neoplasms/pathology , Cell Culture Techniques/methods , Cell Line, Tumor , Cell Survival/drug effects , Coordination Complexes/chemistry , Female , Flavonoids/chemistry , Humans , Male , Mice, Nude , Microscopy, Phase-Contrast , Molecular Structure , Osteosarcoma/pathology , Spheroids, Cellular/pathology , Time Factors , Treatment Outcome , Vanadium/chemistry , Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays
SELECTION OF CITATIONS
SEARCH DETAIL
...