JP2016042853A - Animal experimental breeding device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an animal experimental breeding device that can perform a stable experiment for a long term.SOLUTION: An animal experimental breeding device has a running wheel 3 for a mouse M to exercise, a rotary restricting device 4 enabling permission or non-permission of rotation of the running wheel 3, a rotation detecting device 5 for detecting the rotation of the running wheel 3, and a control unit 6 being the control unit 6 for controlling the rotary restricting device 4 and not enabling non-permission of the rotation of the running wheel 3 while the rotation of the running wheel 3 is detected by the rotation detecting device 5. When restricting the exercise of the animal by enabling the permission or non-permission of the rotation of the running wheel 3 by the rotary restricting device 4, the rotation of the running wheel 3 is not restricted in non-permission by the control unit 6 while the rotation of the running wheel 3 is detected by the rotation detecting device 5. Accordingly, an exercise restriction of the animal can automatically be performed while preventing the running wheel 3 from stopping suddenly and surprising the animal, and preventing the running wheel 3 from rapidly stopping to break the running wheel 3 when the animal rotates the running wheel 3.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to an animal experiment breeding apparatus for breeding animals and conducting experiments.

  As an experimental model of circadian rhythm disorder, a method of changing the light-dark cycle of the outside world is often adopted. However, the difference between the light / dark rhythm and the biological rhythm is passive, and there is a problem that it synchronizes immediately. Since shift work is a state in which the living body continuously maintains an activity rhythm that deviates from the light-dark rhythm, the technique of changing the light-dark cycle of the external world is considered inappropriate as an experimental model for circadian rhythm disorders ( (Refer nonpatent literature 1.).

  For example, Non-Patent Document 2 describes a method of abruptly changing the light / dark timing of ambient light in the name of reproducing the state of shift workers. However, this method is a model with a jet lag rather than shift work, and there is a problem that the difference between the light and dark rhythm and the activity rhythm cannot be maintained for a long time.

  Non-Patent Document 3 describes an experimental model in which feeding and running wheel permission are given only during the light period of rest and the active period is induced during the light period. However, in this experimental model, feeding restriction and movement restriction are performed manually by the experimenter, and there is a problem that stable experimental operation over a long period of time is difficult.

  For example, Patent Documents 1 and 2 describe feeding at night. An automatic measurement recording device that measures the spontaneous movement of a small animal such as a mouse using a rotating rod is described in Patent Document 3, for example.

JP-T-2008-545799 (paragraph 0090) JP-T-2011-520847 (paragraph 0139) JP-A-53-143252

Hiroaki Fujiwara and five others, making a shift work model using mice, The 39th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Sleep Studies Program and Abstract Collection 2014 Tokushima, Japan Society of Sleep Studies, 2014, p. 258 Murphy HM, Wideman CH, Nadzam GR.A laboratory animal model of human shift work.Integr Physiol Behav Sci. 2003 Oct-Dec; 38 (4): 316-28. Yamaguchi Y., et al., Mice genetically deficient in vasopressin V1a and V1b receptors are resistant to jet lag.Science. 2013 Oct 4; 342 (6154): 85-90.

  An object of the present invention is to provide an animal experiment breeding apparatus capable of performing a stable experiment over a long period of time.

  The animal experiment breeding apparatus according to the present invention is an animal experiment breeding apparatus for raising an animal and conducting an experiment, and permits or disallows a rotation wheel for moving the animal and rotation of the rotation wheel. A rotation limiting device, a rotation detecting device that detects the rotation of the rotating wheel, and a control device that controls the rotation limiting device, while the rotation detecting device detects the rotation of the rotating vehicle, the rotation of the rotating vehicle is not permitted. And a control device not limited to the above.

  According to the animal experiment breeding apparatus of the present invention, when the rotation of the rotating vehicle is detected by the rotation detecting device when the rotation of the rotating vehicle is permitted or not permitted by the rotation limiting device to limit the movement of the animal, Does not restrict the rotation of the car by the control device, so when the animal is turning and turning the car, the car suddenly stops and surprises the animal or suddenly turns and the car stops and turns It is possible to automatically limit the movement of an animal while preventing damage to the animal.

  Here, it is desirable for the control device to permit or disallow rotation of the rotating vehicle according to a designated time zone. Thereby, it becomes possible to automatically limit the movement of the animal in the designated time zone by designating the time zone in which the exercise restriction is performed in advance.

  Further, the rotation limiting device has a member (hereinafter referred to as “advance / retreat member”) that advances and retreats toward the turning wheel, and the rotation of the turning wheel is restricted by interference with a member that advances and retreats (advance / retreat member). It is desirable to have a member (hereinafter referred to as “restraint member”). As a result, when the rotation of the rotating wheel is not permitted, when the advance / retreat member is advanced toward the rotation wheel, the advance / retreat member interferes with the restraining member and the rotation of the rotation vehicle is restricted. On the other hand, when the advance / retreat member is retracted, the advance / retreat member does not interfere with the restraining member, and the rotation of the rotating wheel is released.

  Further, the animal experiment breeding apparatus of the present invention has a food box provided with a shutter that opens and closes in order to limit feeding by animals, and the control apparatus opens and closes the shutter according to a designated time zone. It is desirable. As a result, when a time period for restricting feeding is designated in advance, the shutter of the food box is opened and closed according to the designated time period, and it becomes possible to automatically restrict animal feeding during the designated time period. .

  Moreover, it is desirable that the bait box is detachable. Thereby, it becomes possible to measure the food intake of an animal easily by detaching a food box and measuring the weight before and after feeding.

(1) A rotating wheel for moving an animal, a rotation limiting device for allowing or disallowing rotation of the rotating wheel, a rotation detecting device for detecting rotation of the rotating wheel, and a control device for controlling the rotation limiting device Yes, according to the animal experiment breeding apparatus having the control device that does not restrict the rotation of the turning wheel without permission while the rotation detecting device detects the rotation of the turning wheel, the animal rotates the turning wheel. Occasionally turning the car suddenly stops and surprises the animal, or suddenly turning the car stops and breaks, automatically restricting the movement of the animal, and stable experiments over a long period of time It can be easily performed.

(2) If the control device specifies in advance a time zone in which exercise is restricted by permitting or disallowing rotation of the wheel according to the specified time zone, the movement of the animal in the specified time zone Limiting can be performed automatically, and stable experiments over a long period of time can be more easily performed.

(3) The rotation restricting device has a member (advancing / retracting member) that advances and retreats toward the turning car, and a rotation stopping device (advancing / retreating member) that stops rotation (restraint member). The rotation of the wheel can be permitted or disallowed with a simple configuration for advancing and retracting the advancing and retracting member, and a low-cost animal experiment breeding device can be obtained.

(4) It has a food box with a shutter that opens and closes to restrict feeding by animals, and the control device opens and closes the shutter in a specified time period, thereby restricting feeding in advance. If the time zone is designated, it becomes possible to automatically limit the animal's feeding during the designated time zone, and it becomes possible to more easily perform a stable experiment over a long period of time.

(5) By detaching the feed box, it is possible to easily measure the amount of food consumed by removing the feed box and measuring the weight before and after feeding, and pay attention to nutrition and metabolism. It is possible to easily perform the experiment.

1 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating a configuration of an animal experiment breeding apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic front sectional view of the animal experiment breeding apparatus of FIG. 1. It is an enlarged view of the rotary wheel of FIG. It is a BB arrow line view of FIG. It is A arrow directional view of FIG. It is the figure which represented the change of the average spontaneous activity amount of the mouse | mouth in a light period and a dark period in the graph.

  1 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing the configuration of an animal experiment breeding apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic front sectional view of the animal experiment breeding apparatus shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. FIG. 4 is an enlarged view, FIG. 4 is a view taken along arrow B-B in FIG. 3, and FIG. 5 is a view taken along arrow A in FIG.

  1 and 2, an animal experiment breeding apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention is an experimental system for creating a shift work model animal or the like using a rodent such as a mouse M as an animal. The animal experiment breeding apparatus 1 includes a rotation wheel 3 for moving the mouse M in a cage 2 for raising the mouse M, a rotation limiting device 4 for permitting or disallowing rotation of the rotation wheel 3, and a rotation wheel 3 A rotation detecting device 5 for detecting the rotation of the rotation limiting device 4 and a control device 6 for controlling the rotation limiting device 4. Moreover, the animal experiment breeding apparatus 1 in this embodiment includes a feeding apparatus 7 for feeding the mouse M.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the rotating wheel 3 includes a wheel 30 through which the mouse M can run and an axle 31 that rotatably supports the wheel 30 with respect to the support plate 25. The wheel 30 is made of plastic. The axle 31 can be attached to and detached from the support plate 25. As a result, when the wheel 3 becomes dirty, the wheel 3 can be removed from the support plate 25 and easily cleaned. The support plate 25 is installed in the cage 2 so as to be inclined with respect to the horizontal direction.

  The rotation limiting device 4 includes a shaft 40 as a member (advancing / retracting member) that moves forward and backward toward the rotating wheel 3. The shaft 40 is moved back and forth by an electromagnetic valve 41. The electromagnetic valve 41 is controlled by the control device 6. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 4, a stopper 32 as a member (restraint member) whose rotation is restrained by interfering with the advancing / retreating shaft 40 is provided on the back surface of the rotating wheel 3. The stopper 32 is a belt-like body made of silicon rubber. The stoppers 32 are arranged radially at equal intervals around the axle 31 so as not to adversely affect the rotation of the wheels 30.

  The rotation restricting device 4 advances the shaft 40 toward the turning wheel 3 when disabling the rotation of the turning wheel 3. Thereby, the shaft 40 interferes with the stopper 32 and the rotation of the turning wheel 3 is restricted. On the other hand, when allowing the rotation of the rotating wheel 3, the shaft 40 is in a retracted state. As a result, the shaft 40 does not interfere with the stopper 32, the restriction of the rotation of the rotating wheel 3 is released, and the rotating wheel 3 can freely rotate.

  The rotation detection device 5 includes a rotation detection magnet 50 provided on the back surface of the wheel 3 and a sensor 51 that detects the magnet 50. The rotation detection device 5 detects the presence or absence of rotation of the rotating wheel 3 by detecting the passage of the magnet 50 rotating together with the rotating wheel 3 by the sensor 51.

  The control device 6 controls the rotation limiting device 4, that is, in this embodiment, controls the advance / retreat of the shaft 40 to permit or disallow the rotation of the rotating wheel 3. While the rotation of the turning wheel 3 is detected by the detection device 5, the rotation of the turning wheel 3 is not permitted. In the animal experiment breeding apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, the control device 6 can set the rotation of the wheel 3 to be permitted or not permitted according to a designated time zone. That is, the control device 6 does not permit the rotation of the rotating wheel 3 while the rotation detecting device 5 detects the rotation of the rotating wheel 3 even during the time zone in which the rotation of the rotating wheel 3 is not permitted. Don't make it.

  Returning to FIG. 1, the feeding device 7 includes a food box 70 that accommodates pellet-shaped food F. A wall 21 separates the bait box 70 from the breeding space 20 of the cage 2. The bait box 70 can be attached to and detached from the wall 21. As shown in FIG. 5, an opening 22 is provided in the wall 21 so that the mouse M can access the food F in the food box 70. The opening 22 is provided with a partition plate 24 having a slit 23 that allows the mouse M to access the food F and eat it while the food F remains in pellet form from the food box 70 and does not fall into the breeding space 20. It has been.

  In addition, the bait box 70 includes a shutter 71 that opens and closes in order to restrict feeding by the mouse M. The shutter 71 is formed in a band plate shape capable of closing the slit 23 of the partition plate 24. The shutter 71 is fixed to the rotating shaft 73 of the motor 72. The shutter 71 is configured to open and close the slit 23 of the partition plate 24 by controlling the rotation angle of the motor 72 by the control device 6. In addition, the control device 6 opens and closes the shutter 71 in a designated time zone, like the wheel 3.

  According to the animal experiment breeding apparatus 1 having the above-described configuration, the rotation detection device 5 rotates the rotation wheel 3 when the rotation limitation device 4 permits or disallows the rotation of the rotation wheel 3 and restricts the movement of the mouse M. While the vehicle is detected, the control device 6 does not prohibit the rotation of the rotating wheel 3. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the mouse M from being suddenly stopped when the mouse M is rotating and rotating the car 3 and the mouse M being surprised, or suddenly turning and stopping the car 3 to be damaged. However, it is possible to automatically limit the movement of the mouse M and easily perform a stable experiment over a long period of time.

  Further, in the animal experiment breeding apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, the control device 6 permits or disallows the rotation of the rotating wheel 3 according to the designated time zone, and therefore designates the time zone during which exercise is restricted in advance. Then, it is possible to automatically limit the movement of the mouse M during the designated time period, and it is possible to more easily perform a stable experiment over a long period of time.

  In addition, the animal experiment breeding apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment has a shaft 40 that the rotation restricting device 4 advances and retreats toward the turning car 3, and the rotation is restricted by interference with the shaft 40 that the turning wheel 3 advances and retreats. Therefore, the rotation of the rotating wheel 3 can be permitted or not permitted with a simple configuration for moving the shaft 40 forward and backward, and the cost is low.

  In addition, the animal experiment breeding apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment includes a food box 70 provided with a shutter 71 that opens and closes to restrict feeding by the mouse M, and the control device 6 performs shuttering according to a designated time zone. 71 is opened and closed, and if a time period for restricting feeding is designated in advance, the shutter 71 of the food box 70 is opened and closed according to the designated time period. Therefore, according to the animal experiment breeding apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, in addition to the movement restriction of the mouse M during the designated time period as described above, the feeding restriction of the mouse M during the designated time period is automatically set. Can be done.

  Further, the animal experiment breeding apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment can easily remove the food box 70 by removing the food box 70 and measuring the weight before and after feeding. It is possible to measure. This makes it possible to easily perform experiments focusing on nutrition, metabolism, and the like.

  In addition, the animal experiment breeding apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment is installed in the cage 2 so that the support plate 25 is inclined with respect to the horizontal direction, and the wheel 3 that is rotatably supported by the cage 2 is also inclined. Is installed. That is, the opening 33 of the rotating wheel 3 is installed slightly upward. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the experimental cables and tubes C connected to the mouse M from above the cage 2 from interfering with the rotating wheel 3. As a result, it is possible to prevent the free movement of the mouse M or to adversely affect the measurement, and to perform experiments such as electroencephalogram recording and microdialysis with high accuracy.

  In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the support plate 25 is set to 70 ° with respect to the horizontal direction, but this angle is preferably in the range of 60 ° to 80 °. In the range of 60 ° to 80 °, it is possible to effectively prevent the interference of cables, tubes, and the like C. If it is less than 60 °, the rotating wheel 3 becomes difficult to rotate, and the free movement of the mouse M may be hindered. On the other hand, if it exceeds 80 °, the cable or tube C may turn and interfere with the car 3. The support plate 25 can also be perpendicular to the horizontal direction.

  The circadian rhythm disorder model experiment was actually performed using the mouse M by the animal experiment breeding apparatus 1 in the above embodiment. In the experiment, one day (24 hours) is divided into a light period (actually a dark time zone from 18:00 to 6:00) and a dark period (actually a light time zone from 6 to 18:00) in 12 hours. In the light period, the rotation of the rotating wheel 3 was permitted, the movement was freely performed without restricting the movement, and the shutter 71 was opened, and the feeding was freely performed. On the other hand, in the dark period, while restricting movement by disallowing rotation of the rotating wheel 3, the shutter 71 was closed to restrict feeding.

  FIG. 6 is a graph showing changes in the average spontaneous activity of mouse M during the light and dark periods. The amount of spontaneous activity was measured using a small animal telemeter system PDT-4000HR (Bio Research Center Co., Ltd. (Starr Life Sciences Corp.)). The arrows indicate the start date of exercise / feeding restriction. The baseline is the average of 5 days before the start of restriction. As shown in FIG. 6, one day after the start of exercise / feeding restriction, the average spontaneous activity is reversed between the light period and the dark period, and the circadian rhythm disorder model experiment over a long period of 10 days or more. Was able to continue stably.

  The animal experiment breeding apparatus of the present invention is useful as an apparatus for breeding animals and conducting experiments, and in particular, it is possible to conduct experiments for creating shift work model animals using animals over a long period of time. It is suitable as a possible device.

M mouse F food 1 breeding device for animal experiment 2 cage 3 spinning wheel 4 rotation limiting device 5 rotation detection device 6 control device 7 feeding device 20 breeding space 21 wall 22 opening 23 slit 24 partition plate 25 support plate 30 wheel 31 axle 32 Stopper 33 Opening 40 Shaft 41 Solenoid valve 50 Magnet 51 Sensor 70 Feeding box 71 Shutter 72 Motor

Claims (5)

An animal experiment breeding apparatus for raising animals and conducting experiments,
A wheel for the animal to exercise;
A rotation limiting device that permits or disallows rotation of the wheel;
A rotation detection device for detecting the rotation of the wheel;
A control device for controlling the rotation restricting device, comprising: a control device that does not permit rotation of the wheel while the rotation detector detects rotation of the wheel.   2. The animal experiment breeding apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control device permits or disallows rotation of the wheeled wheel according to a designated time zone. The rotation limiting device has a member that moves forward and backward toward the wheel,
The animal experiment breeding apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the rotating wheel has a member whose rotation is restricted by interfering with the advancing and retreating member. Having a food box with a shutter that opens and closes to limit feeding by the animal;
The animal control breeding apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the control device opens and closes the shutter according to a designated time zone.   The animal experiment breeding apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the feeding box is detachable.