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Redundancy for the laboratory guinea pig
... Understanding normal bone growth and development in the guinea pig is essential, especially in relation to movement and homeostasis as a store of calcium and phosphorus. Guinea pigs suffer from a number of bone disorders including metabolic bone disease – conditions that develop following prolonged calcium or vitamin D deficiency, or an improper ratio of calcium to phosphorus in the diet (Terril & Clemons, 1997). Imbalances have resulted in reports of reduced growth rate, pathological changes of the animal’s skeleton and osteodystrophia fibrosa resulting from nutritional secondary hyperparathyroidism (Rapsch Dahinden et al., 2009; Schwarz et al., 2001). ...
... Imbalances have resulted in reports of reduced growth rate, pathological changes of the animal’s skeleton and osteodystrophia fibrosa resulting from nutritional secondary hyperparathyroidism (Rapsch Dahinden et al., 2009; Schwarz et al., 2001). Bone disorders can also manifest from hypovitaminosis C, a dietary insufficiency of vitamin C for just 2 to 3 weeks can result in lameness or pain due to intra-articular haemorrhage, anorexia, weight loss and general unthriftiness, progressing to death if untreated (Gad, 2013; Richardson, 2003; Terril & Clemons, 1997) and if combined with vitamin E deficiency the time can drop to just a few days (Hill et al., 2003). Disorders such as osteoporosis, common in this species (Bendele, White & Hulman, 1989), accelerate bone composition and modelling changes and decrease the bone’s density significantly, however this can also be attributed to normal age-related changes (Bilezikian, Raisz & Martin, 2008). ...
... As a hystricomorph, the guinea pig sow has a characteristically long gestation period of 59 to 72 days, approximately double that of the rabbit (Meredith & Redrobe, 2010). Litter size varies from 2 to 6, with an average of three or four pups, each weighing between 40 and 120 grams (Terril & Clemons, 1997). The precocial pups are born mobile, fully-furred, with their eyes open and teeth present, and are therefore able to consume solid food within a few hours, although still suckle for two to three weeks (Hubrecht & Kirkwood, 2010; Meredith & Redrobe, 2010). ...
The domestic guinea pig, Cavia aperea f. porcellus, belongs to the Caviidae family of rodents. It is an important species as a pet, a source of food and in medical research. Adult weight is achieved at 8-12 months and life expectancy is ∼5-6 years. Our aim was to map bone local thickness, structure and dimensions across developmental stages in the normal animal. Guinea pigs (n = 23) that had died of natural causes were collected and the bones manually extracted and cleaned. Institutional ethical permission was given under the UK Home Office guidelines and the Veterinary Surgeons Act. X-ray Micro Computed Tomography (microCT) was undertaken on the left and right scapula, humerus and femur from each animal to ascertain bone local thickness. Images were also used to undertake manual and automated bone measurements, volumes and surface areas, identify and describe nutrient, supratrochlear and supracondylar foramina. Statistical analysis between groups was carried out using ANOVA with post-hoc testing. Our data mapped a number of dimensions, and mean and maximum bone thickness of the scapula, humerus and femur in guinea pigs aged 0-1 month, 1-3 months, 3-6 months, 6 months-1 year and 1-4 years. Bone dimensions, growth rates and local bone thicknesses differed between ages and between the scapula, humerus and femur. The microCT and imaging software technology showed very distinct differences between the relative local bone thickness across the structure of the bones. Only one bone showed a singular nutrient foramen, every other bone had between 2 and 5, and every nutrient canal ran in an oblique direction. In contrast to other species, a supratrochlear foramen was observed in every humerus whereas the supracondylar foramen was always absent. Our data showed the bone local thickness, bone structure and measurements of guinea pig bones from birth to 4 years old. Importantly it showed that bone development continued after 1 year, the point at which most guinea pigs have reached full weight. This study is the first to show the high abundance (100% in this study) of the supratrochlear foramen within the guinea pig humerus and the complete absence of a supracondylar foramen, which is different to many other species and may also affect potential fracture points and frequencies. Understanding bone morphology and growth is essential in not only understanding the requirements of the healthy guinea pig, but also necessary in order to investigate disease states.
... Guinea pigs (Cavia porcellus) are present in the wild throughout South America. Based on their small size and docility, they have been popular pets since their domestication by Europeans in the 1500s (Terril and Clemons 1998). Like rats and mice, wild guinea pigs are a prey species that flee and hide as primary defenses against threats. ...
... They are very social and use a relatively complex system of distinct vocalizations along with scent marking for communication. Aggression between males may occur over mating privileges, space, and food (Terril and Clemons 1998). ...
Modernization of housing and husbandry techniques for rodents has minimized confounding variables. The result has been vastly improved health maintenance and reproducibility of research findings, advances that have decreased the numbers of animals needed to attain statistically significant results. Even though not all aspects of rodent manipulation have been strictly defined, as housing and handling procedures have become increasingly standardized, many animal care personnel have recognized the lack of complexity of the rodents' environment. Concern for this aspect of animal well-being has led many research facilities to provide "environmental enrichment" for rodents. Additionally, regulatory agencies in the United States and Europe have also been increasingly concerned about this issue relative to laboratory animal husbandry. However, little is known about the influence such husbandry modifications may have on biological parameters. In this article, laws and guidelines relating to rodent enrichment are reviewed, the natural behaviors of select rodent species are discussed, and an overview of widely used types of enrichment in laboratory rodent management is provided. The literature evaluating effects of rodent enrichment is reviewed both in terms of neurological development and as an experimental variable, and results of a study evaluating the effect of enrichment on immune and physiological parameters are reported. Survey data on current enrichment practices in a large multi-institutional organization are presented, and practical aspects requiring consideration when devising a rodent enrichment program are discussed.
... In the current study, we examined the effects of early isolation rearing on hippocampal neurogenesis in the guinea pig, taking advantage of the developmental characteristics of this species. The guinea pig is a precocial rodent, which at birth has its eyes open, is able to sample food and at 5–6 days of age can be independent from maternal care (Terril and Clemons, 1998; Bartesaghi and Serrai, 2001). In view of its precocious development, the guinea pig is a good animal model to study the outcome of isolation rearing starting from very early phases of postnatal life. ...
... In the current study, we examined the effects of early isolation rearing on hippocampal neurogenesis in the guinea pig, taking advantage of the developmental characteristics of this species. The guinea pig is a precocial rodent, which at birth has its eyes open, is able to sample food and at 5–6 days of age can be independent from maternal care (Terril and Clemons, 1998; Bartesaghi and Serrai, 2001 ). In view of its precocious development, the guinea pig is a good animal model to study the outcome of isolation rearing start-ing from very early phases of postnatal life. ...
In the current study we examined the effects of early isolation rearing on cell proliferation, survival and differentiation in the dentate gyrus of the guinea pig. Animals were assigned to either a standard (control) or an isolated environment a few days after birth (P5-P6), taking advantage of the precocious independence from maternal care of the guinea pig. On P14-P17 animals received one daily bromodeoxyuridine injection, to label dividing cells, and were sacrificed either on P18, to evaluate cell proliferation or on P45, to evaluate cell survival and differentiation. In P18 isolated animals we found a reduced cell proliferation (-35%) compared to controls and a lower expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). Though in absolute terms P45 isolated animals had less surviving cells, they showed no differences in survival rate and phenotype percent distribution compared to controls. Looking at the location of the new neurons, we found that while in control animals 76% of them had migrated to the granule cell layer, in isolated animals only 55% of the new neurons had reached this layer. Examination of radial glia cells of P18 and P45 animals by vimentin immunohistochemistry showed that in isolated animals radial glia cells were reduced in density and had less and shorter processes. Granule cell count revealed that P45 isolated animals had less (-42%) granule cells than controls. Results show that isolation rearing reduces hippocampal cell proliferation, likely by reducing BDNF expression and hampers migration of the new neurons to the granule cell layer, likely by altering density/morphology of radial glia cells. The large reduction in granule cell number following isolation rearing emphasizes the role of environmental cues as relevant modulators of neurogenesis.
... Degu is a caviomorph rodent; thus, the chinchilla and guinea pig protocols have also been used for degu. However, degus is much smaller (170-250 g) (Ebensperger et al., 2004) than chinchillas (400-600 g) (Richardson, 2003) and guinea pigs (700-1100 g) (Terril & Clemons, 1998), and anesthesia and surgery are more complicated due to the difficulty of accessing the vascular and respiratory system function and because of the rapid loss of heat from such small-sized caviomorph rodents (Malbrue et al., 2019). ...
The common degu (Octodon degus) is a trendy rodent pet in Europe and the USA, but is also widely used in scientific research. Information about degu housing, nutrition, behavior, disease diagnosis, and disease treatment is abundant in scientific literature. However, information on reproductive management, such as cesarean section, ovariohysterectomy, ovariectomy, and orchiectomy, is scarce and anecdotal. Our general objective was to develop a protocol for cesarean section and ovariohysterectomy for degus. Our results indicated that cesarean post-surgical survival was 100% for mothers and 97% for offspring, while ovariohysterectomy female postsurgical survival was 100%. Cesarean surgeries lasted an average of 61.82 min, while ovariohysterectomies lasted an average of 32.65 min. The initial recovery times for cesarean sections and ovariohysterectomies were an average of 8.18 and 5.53 min, respectively. The full recovery time for cesarean section was an average of 50.18 min, whereas that for ovariohysterectomies was an average of 15.38 min. These results suggest that both protocols are viable for use in veterinary clinics that use mid-level equipment. We discuss our results with data from other rodent species and rabbits and with orchiectomy and ovariectomy procedures practiced in degu. Finally, we discuss in detail four critical considerations for cesarean and ovariohysterectomy surgeries performed on small mammals such as degu.
... 156 E. g. Cherfas (1980); Langley (1984); Bateson (1986). 157 Duke-Evans to Aslam, 3 February 1986, TNA: HO 285/209. ...
This article examines why early twenty-first century animal research governance in Britain foregrounds the ‘culture of care’ as its key problem. It adopts a historical perspective to understand why the regulation of animal research became primarily a problem of ‘culture’, a term firmly associated with the social relations of animal research, at this time and not before. Drawing on the theoretical insights of Sheila Jasanoff, Stephen Hilgartner and others, we contrast the British regulatory framework under the Cruelty to Animals Act (1876), which established statutory regulation of animal research for the first time in the world, with its successor the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (ASPA), in an attempt to chart two closely related yet distinct ‘constitutions’ of animal research each shaped by a historically situated sociotechnical imaginary. Across this longue durée, many concerns remained consistent yet inevitably, as the biomedical sciences transformed in scale and scope, new concerns emerged. Animal care, at least as far as it entailed a commitment to the prevention of animal suffering, was a prominent feature of animal research governance across the period. However, a concern for the culture and social relations of animal research emerged only in the latter half of the twentieth century. We account for this change primarily through a gradual distribution of responsibility for animal research from a single coherent community with broadly shared expertise (‘scientists’ with experience of animal research) to a diversified community of multiple experience and skillsets which included, importantly, a more equitable inclusion of animal welfare as a form of expertise with direct relevance to animal research. We conclude that animal research governance could only become conceived as a problem of ‘culture’ and thus social relations when responsibility for care and animal welfare was distributed across a differentiated community, in which diverse forms of expertise were required for the practice of humane animal research.
... Guinea pigs are popular pets worldwide for many decades (MHller-Haye, 1981). They are most active at dawn and dusk mean crepuscular, feeding on grasses, seeds, fruits and roots (Terril, 1998). Surprisingly, until today it was reported a few on behavior of the cavy. ...
The present study was carried out to elucidate the grooming behavior under clean and dust environmental condition in domestic American guinea pig (Cavia porcellus). The domestic guinea pig was allowed to provide all necessary food items and water prior to the initiation of experiment in order to minimize physiological stress and the present study was carried out in residential place at Homagama during the period of December 2015 to January 2016. The guinea pig was placed for 1 hour in the clean environment and allowed another 1 hour in dust environment. Wood shavings were applied to the cage in order to make cage as dust environment. Then number of grooming and time taken for each grooming in seconds in each environment were recorded. As this manner recordings were taken for 10 days. Data were analyzed statistically using Microsoft Excel 2013 for Chi-Square test. Results revealed that the Grooming behaviour of Guinea pig was significantly high in dust environment in comparing with the clean environment (χ 2 test; p<0.001).
... inoculated group did not experience weight loss, and though they exhibited less weight gain than did saline controls the differences were not statistically significant. Body temperature, as determined by i.p. iButton readings, generally remained within the normal range throughout the study; the group baseline mean body temperature was 39.2˚C compared to the published normal range of 38-40˚C [27]. Transient body temperature spikes were noted between days 4 and 8 in the i.p. inoculated group (mean 40.2˚C; range 38.9-41.6˚C). ...
Historically, vaccination with Coxiella burnetii whole cell vaccines has induced hypersensitivity reactions in humans and animals that have had prior exposure to the pathogen as a result of infection or vaccination. Intradermal skin testing is routinely used to evaluate exposure in humans, and guinea pig hypersensitivity models have been developed to characterize the potential for reactogenicity in vaccine candidates. Here we describe a refinement of the guinea pig model using an alternate vaccine for positive controls. An initial comparative study used viable C. burnetii to compare the routes of sensitizing exposure of guinea pigs (intranasal vs intraperitoneal), evaluation of two time points for antigen challenge (21 and 42 days) and an assessment of two routes (intradermal and subcutaneous) of challenge using the ruminant vaccine Coxevac as the antigenic control. Animals sensitized by intraperitoneal exposure exhibited slightly larger gross reactions than did those sensitized by intranasal exposure, and reactions were more pronounced when skin challenge was performed at 42 days compared to 21 days post-sensitization. The intradermal route proved to be the optimal route of reactogenicity challenge. Histopathological changes at injection sites were similar to those previously reported and a scoring system was developed to compare reactions between groups receiving vaccine by intradermal versus subcutaneous routes. Based on the comparative study, a standardized protocol for assessment of vaccine reactogenicity in intranasally-sensitized animals was tested in a larger confirmatory study. Results suggest that screens utilizing a group size of n = 3 would achieve 90% power for detecting exposure-related reactogenic responses of the magnitude induced by Coxevac using either of two outcome measures.
... The 240 mg/kg/day D-met-and kanamycin-treated animal group was significantly different from saline-injected control groups at the 0.05 level for BUN. However, the levels for both control and experimental groups were within or close to established normal guinea pig levels (Terril & Clemons, 1997). Creatinine concentrations were not significantly different between any of the groups. ...
Objective:
Test D-methionine (D-met) as an otoprotectant from kanamycin-induced ototoxicity and determine the lowest maximally protective D-met dose.
Design:
Auditory brainstem responses (ABR) were measured at 4, 8, 14, and 20 kHz at baseline and two, four, and six weeks after kanamycin and D-met administration initiation. ABR threshold shifts assessed auditory function. Following six-week ABR testing, animals were decapitated and cochleae collected for outer hair cell (OHC) quantification.
Study sample:
Eight groups of 10 male pigmented guinea pigs were administered a subcutaneous kanamycin (250 mg/kg/dose) injection once per day and an intraperitoneal D-met injection (0 (saline), 120, 180, 240, 300, 360, 420, or 480 mg/kg/day) twice per day for 23 days.
Results:
Significant ABR threshold shift reductions and increased OHC counts (p ≤0.01) were measured at multiple D-met-dosed groups starting at two-week ABR assessments. A 300 mg/kg/day optimal otoprotective D-met dose provided 34-41 dB ABR threshold shift reductions and OHC protection. Lesser, but significant, D-met otoprotection was measured at lower and higher D-met doses.
Conclusions:
D-met significantly reduced ABR threshold shifts and increased OHC percentages compared to kanamycin-treated controls. Results may be clinically significant particularly for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis patients who frequently suffer from kanamycin-induced hearing loss in developing countries.
... Due to the fact that guinea pigs are relatively sedentary, it may also be possible to simultaneously evaluate the effects of a therapeutic agent on both spontaneous knee OA and surgically induced OA in the guinea pig because unilateral knee meniscectomy does not appear to alter the course of spontaneous knee OA in the contralateral limb (Bendele, unpublished observation). Finally, much is known about the general care and manipulation of this animal[48], which facilitates the ease with which OA studies can be conducted. This review focuses on the methods of assessment (macroscopic, microscopic, and ultrastructural) of OA in this animal model system and recommends particular methods of assessment to assist standardization in the conduct and reporting of clinical trails in the guinea pig model of OA. ...
This review focuses on the criteria for assessing osteoarthritis (OA) in the guinea pig at the macroscopic and microscopic levels, and recommends particular assessment criteria to assist standardization in the conduct and reporting of preclinical trails in guinea pig models of OA.
A review was conducted of all OA studies from 1958 until the present that utilized the guinea pig. The PubMed database was originally searched August 1, 2006 using the following search terms: guinea pig and OA. We continued to check the database periodically throughout the process of preparing this chapter and the final search was conducted January 7, 2009. Additional studies were found in a review of abstracts from the OsteoArthritis Research Society International (OARSI) conferences, Orthopaedic Research Society (ORS) conferences, and literature related to histology in other preclinical models of OA reviewed for relevant references. Studies that described or used systems for guinea pig joint scoring on a macroscopic, microscopic, or ultrastructural basis were included in the final comprehensive summary and review. General recommendations regarding methods of OA assessment in the guinea pig were derived on the basis of a comparison across studies and an inter-rater reliability assessment of the recommended scoring system.
A histochemical-histological scoring system (based on one first introduced by H. Mankin) is recommended for semi-quantitative histological assessment of OA in the guinea pig, due to its already widespread adoption, ease of use, similarity to scoring systems used for OA in humans, its achievable high inter-rater reliability, and its demonstrated correlation with synovial fluid biomarker concentrations. Specific recommendations are also provided for histological scoring of synovitis and scoring of macroscopic lesions of OA.
As summarized herein, a wealth of tools exist to aid both in the semi-quantitative and quantitative assessment of OA in the guinea pig and provide a means of comprehensively characterizing the whole joint organ. In an ongoing effort at standardization, we recommend specific criteria for assessing the guinea pig model of OA as part of an OARSI initiative, termed herein the OARSI-HISTOgp recommendations.
... The guinea-pig is a rodent characterized by a low spontaneous locomotor activity (Terril and Clemons, 1998 ). Unlike control animals, isolated animals were hyperactive and exhibited stereotyped jerking and jumping movements. ...
Deprivation of socio-sensory interactions during early life impairs brain function in adulthood. In previous investigations we showed that early isolation severely affects neuron development in several structures of the hippocampal region, including the entorhinal cortex. In the present study we investigated the effects of early isolation on signal processing along the entorhinal cortex-dentate-CA3-CA1 system, a major memory circuit of the hippocampal region. Male and female guinea-pigs were assigned at 6-7 days of age to either a social or an isolated environment. At 90-100 days of age the animals were anesthetized and field potentials were recorded from the entorhinal cortex-dentate-CA3-CA1 circuit, driven by dorsal psalterium commissural volleys. Analysis of the input-output function in the different structures showed that in isolated males there was a small reduction in the input-output function of the population excitatory postsynaptic potential and population spike evoked in layer II of the entorhinal cortex. No changes occurred in isolated females. In isolated males and females there was a reduction in the input-output function of the population excitatory postsynaptic potential and population spike evoked in the dentate gyrus, CA3 and CA1, but this effect was larger in males. In isolated males, but not in females, the population spike/population excitatory postsynaptic potential ratio was reduced in all investigated structures, indicating that in males the size of the discharged neuron population was reduced more than due to the decreased input. Results show that isolation reduces the synaptic function in the whole entorhinal cortex-dentate gyrus-CA3-CA1 system. While the entorhinal cortex was moderately impaired, the dentate-hippocampal system was more severely affected. The impairment in the signal transfer along the entorhinal cortex-dentate gyrus-CA3-CA1 system was heavier in males, confirming the larger susceptibility of this sex to early experience. This work provides evidence that malfunctioning of a major hippocampal network may underlie the learning deficits induced by impoverished surroundings during early life.
Biological overviewUses in the laboratoryLaboratory management and breedingLaboratory proceduresCommon welfare problemsAcknowledgementsReferences
Background
The protective effect of ascorbic acid against noise-induced hearing loss and increased nitric oxide (NO) formation after noise exposure have already been demonstrated in animal models. However, the influence of ascorbic acid on noise-induced NO production within the cochlea is still unclear.
Methods
Guinea pigs (n=48) were fed for 7 days with low [25 mg/kg bodyweight (bw)/day] and high (525 mg/kg bw/day) doses of ascorbic acid. Then half of the animals were exposed to noise (90 dB for 1 h). The hearing levels were recorded beforehand, on the 3rd and 7th days after feeding, and directly after noise exposure. Finally, the organ of Corti and the lateral wall were removed from the inner ear and incubated separately for 6 h in culture medium, and the nitrite content was determined in the supernatant.
Results
Compared with low-dose feeding, feeding of high doses of ascorbic acid resulted in a reduction of hearing impairment of about 8 dB after noise exposure. A correlation between hearing improvement and decreased NO production was detectable for both cochlea regions but was more pronounced in the lateral wall.
Conclusion
A high dose of ascorbic acid lowers NO production in the inner ear, reduces hearing loss, and protects the cochlea from nitroactive stress.
Insufficient wear of rodent incisors often results in malocclusion and rapid tooth elongation. This condition may go undetected for a prolonged time and have a negative effect on affected animals' welfare. Dental overgrowth can lead to undernutrition due to chronic difficulty in feeding and may cause trauma to the surrounding tissues, potentially ultimately resulting in death. Here we describe the increased incidence of malocclusion observed during a longitudinal study of the normal growth and aging of Wistar rats. Histologic examination of the temporomandibular joint of affected animals did not reveal any inflammatory or degenerative changes. Because no environmental factor could be implicated in the condition, we considered that aging or genetic factors were responsible for its appearance. We conclude that special attention should be given to the potential appearance of malocclusion during long-term rodent studies, because its incidence may adversely affect the animals' health and general wellbeing.
Despite several published methods of inducing surgical anesthesia in guinea pigs, viable methods of anesthesia for blood collection from the vena cava are inadequate. We compared 5 anesthesia regimens and their efficacy in inducing anesthesia for blood sampling in guinea pigs: ketamine-xylazine (30 and 2.5 mg/kg) administered subcutaneously, intramuscularly, or intraperitoneally; pentobarbital (37 mg/kg) administered intraperitoneally; and medetomidine (0.5 mg/kg) administered intramuscularly. Parameters measured included time to onset of anesthesia, time to recovery from anesthesia, and complete blood count (CBC) and serum chemistry values. CBC values did not differ among the 5 regimens, but serum glucose, BUN, phosphorous, and creatine phosphokinase levels varied among groups. Based on our data, intraperitoneal ketamine-xylazine appears to emerge as a preferable injectable anesthetic regimen in guinea pigs for blood collection from the anterior vena cava.
No bacteria were observed in an epizootic of lethal pneumonia in guinea pigs. Necrotic bronchitis and bronchiolitis with basophilic intranuclear inclusion bodies in bronchial epithelial cells were characteristic. Although adenovirus infection of guinea pigs has not previously been reported, histological findings paralleled those found in adenovirus infections of other animals including man. Virus particles found by electron-microscopical examination of the lung tissue closely resembled adenoviruses. The disease seemed to have a low contagiousness, a low morbidity (about 0.7%), but an acute course and a high mortality (100%).
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