| Autor: |
Van Loo PL; Department of Laboratory Animal Science, Utrecht University, PO Box 80.166, 3508 TD Utrecht, The Netherlands. P.L.P.vanloo@vet.uu.nl, Van der Meer E, Kruitwagen CL, Koolhaas JM, Van Zutphen LF, Baumans V |
| Jazyk: |
angličtina |
| Zdroj: |
Laboratory animals [Lab Anim] 2004 Apr; Vol. 38 (2), pp. 169-77. |
| DOI: |
10.1258/002367704322968858 |
| Abstrakt: |
In socially unstable groups of male laboratory mice, individuals may experience a chronic stress situation. Previous experiments have shown that the transfer of specific olfactory cues during cage cleaning, and the provision of nesting material decrease aggression and stress in group-housed male mice. In this study, the combined effect of these husbandry procedures were tested for their long-term effect on stress in groups of moderately aggressive (BALB/c) and severely aggressive (CD-1) male mice. The physiological and behavioural stress-related parameters used were body weight, food and water intake, spleen and thymus weight, adrenal tyrosine hydroxylase activity, urine corticosterone levels and behaviour in a cage emergence test. Long-term provision of nesting material and its transfer during cage cleaning was found to influence several stress-related physiological parameters. Mice housed in cages enriched with nesting material had lower urine corticosterone levels and heavier thymuses, and they consumed less food and water than standard-housed mice. Furthermore, marked differences were found between strains. CD-1 mice were less anxious in the cage emergence test, weighed more, ate and drank more, and had heavier thymuses but lighter spleens and lower corticosterone levels than BALB/c mice. We conclude that the long-term provision of nesting material, including the transfer of nesting material during cage cleaning, reduces stress and thereby enhances the welfare of laboratory mice. |
| Databáze: |
MEDLINE |
| Externí odkaz: |
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