RU2699483C1 - Method of investigating behavior and physical endurance of experimental animals - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: medicine.

SUBSTANCE: invention refers to medicine and can be used in determining physical endurance of small laboratory animals when investigating the adaptogenic activity of certain drugs, as well as chemical compounds and certain food products to determine their specific effect on the body. An animal is induced to move and its motion and physical state are recorded. In the process of experiment, the animal is placed on an artificially created inclination of a sand cup in the form of an inverted cone; the animal's movements are recorded using laser pointers, the specified distances and the time of overcoming to the animals of the control distance are marked.

EFFECT: method widens the range of behavioral tests that enable to obtain accurate data on behavior and physical state of animals and determine level of physical endurance.

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Description

The invention relates to biomedicine and can be used to determine the physical endurance of small laboratory animals in the study of the adaptogenic activity of certain drugs, as well as chemical compounds and certain food products, to determine their specific effect on the body.

A known method of studying the functional state of animals during muscle work, in which the animal is placed on a treadmill and forced to run using a source of stimulating voltage. The load is carried out by changing the speed and angle of the treadmill. If the animal does not maintain the specified running speed, it moves the position sensor along the guide, changing the value of the input signal received by the control unit. From the first output of the control unit, the signal is fed to a light panel, the size of which is directly proportional to the distance from the animal to the "safe zone" (zone of absence of electric pain stimulation). If the animal does not return to the “safe zone” within 3 seconds, then an increase in the stimulating voltage at the electrodes occurs, forcing the animal to run (RF patent No. 2008792).

The disadvantages of the described method is the complexity of reproduction, the use of electricity makes the method painful and dangerous, both for the animal and for humans.

Of the known technical solutions, the closest in purpose and technical essence to the claimed object is a method for studying the kinesodynamics and behavior of experimental animals, including inducing the animal to move and recording the movement and physical condition of the animal, characterized by preliminary training of animals in swimming. The animal is placed in water, where they create an artificial unidirectional flow of a water stream. The flow rate, water temperature and air pressure are regulated, while recording the movement and physical condition of the animal using non-contact and wireless devices (RF patent No. 2520155 from 06.20.2014).

The disadvantages of the described method are the complexity of reproduction and the length of time in view of the need for preliminary training of animals in swimming, which makes it time-consuming and expensive to use.

In a stressful situation, the body exerts efforts to minimize the harmful effects of stress, which causes changes in behavioral, motor, autonomic, sensory and other body functions. When the body gets into a stressful situation, it responds with a change in behavior, which manifests itself in extreme states of excitation - inhibition of the central nervous system and is illustrated by a single scale of ethological activity stress-fear-anxiety depression (Sudakov K.V., Umryukhin P.E. Systemic basis of emotional stress. M .: GEOTAR-Media, 2010. 112 pp .; AV Kaluev. Study of anxiety in animals - yesterday, today, tomorrow // Stress and behavior: materials of the 7th interdisciplinary conference on biological psychiatry. M., 2003. S . 144-148)

For a comprehensive study of the functionality of the nervous system and the body as a whole, variational groups of behavioral tests are used and about forty indicators are studied (Crawley J.N. Behavioral phenotyping strategies for mutant mice // Neuron. 2008. Vol. 57. P. 808-818).

The purpose of the invention is to expand the arsenal of behavioral tests to obtain accurate data on the behavior and physical condition of animals, as well as to determine the level of physical endurance by creating experimental conditions in which animals are not subjected to forced non-reflex behavior in order to exclude the effects of painful physical stimuli.

This goal is achieved by the fact that during the experiment the animal is placed on an artificially created slope of the sand funnel in the form of an inverted cone (from medium-grained sand (GOST 8736-93), while using laser pointers, the movement of the animal is recorded, the specified distances and the time the animals overcome the control distance.

For a more uniform and quick placement of the animal in the middle of the artificially created slope of the sand funnel, the animal is fixed with two hands, for the scruff and the root of the tail and slowly lowers to the slope. The sand begins to crumble and drag the animal along, which, resisting creep, begins to climb up.

Before carrying out the study, a hole is dug in the center of the box filled with sand, into which an inverted cone is inserted (made in the form of a fire bucket with a base diameter of 600 mm and a height of 850 mm), the top of which abuts against the bottom of the box. The inverted cone located in the box is leveled using the building level, and then the voids between the inverted cone and the pit are filled. After filling the voids, the sand is leveled and slightly tamped over the entire area of the box. After tamping, the inverted cone is taken out of the sand by the handle. Thus, they create a sand funnel in the form of an inverted cone.

On the resulting sand funnel, using laser pointers, the specified distances are noted and the time is measured by the animals over the control distance.

A study of the effectiveness of the proposed method was carried out on white non-linear mice aged 5 months (males) with a body weight of 20-23 g. In the experiment, 2 groups of animals were used: control (n = 10) and experimental (= 10). This work was carried out in accordance with the “Rules for Laboratory Practice in the Russian Federation” (Order No. 199 of 04/01/2016 of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation).

During the experiments, to determine the level of physical endurance, the time spent by the animals on overcoming the control distance was measured. The experimental group received a solution of creatine monohydrate with actoprotective action at a dose of 5 ml / kg (example 1).

To study the effect on behavior and physical endurance, the experimental group received an aqueous passiflora extract with a sedative effect, administered to the animals intragastrically through a 10 ml / kg probe (Example 2).

The proposed method allows to evaluate the general behavior of the animal and the level of its physical endurance. When monitoring the physical condition of the animals, you can attach wireless sensors that record various parameters (temperature, heart rate, respiratory rate, etc.).

Example 1

An experimental group of laboratory white mongrel mice (n = 10) weighing 20-23 g at the age of 5 months before being placed on a slope of an inverted sand cone an hour before testing was given a solution of creatine monohydrate in a dose of 5 ml / kg. The control group (n = 10) received a dose of 5 ml / kg sweetened water. Animals from both groups were placed on the slope of the sand cone. The travel time of a distance of 20 cm, marked on a slope by laser pointers, in the experimental group decreased compared to the control in view of the use of actoprotective drug (Table 1).

Example 2

To study the effect of certain drugs on the behavior and physical endurance of experimental animals, an aqueous extract of passiflora was used in the experiments, which was administered intragastrically through a probe to mice of the experimental group at a dose of 10 ml / kg. A control group of mice received distilled water in an identical manner and in an identical dose. The time to overcome the control distance increased in the experimental group compared with the control, while a change in the behavior of animals was recorded. In the experimental group there was a change in the behavior of some mice in the form of fading and changes in direction of movement. Thus, some animals did not overcome the control distance (Table 2)

Based on the data obtained experimentally, one can judge the high information content of the proposed method. The method allows to accurately evaluate the overall behavior of the animal and the degree of its physical endurance, thereby contributing to determining the level of specific effects on the body of certain drugs and chemical compounds.

Claims (1)

A method for studying the behavior and physical endurance of experimental animals, including inducing the animal to move and registering the movement and physical condition of the animal, characterized in that during the experiment the animal is placed on an artificially created slope of the sand funnel in the form of an inverted cone, while using laser pointers, register animal movements, note the given distances and the time the animals overcome the control distance.