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Effect of enrichment on stress level of laboratory rats

In certain biomedical research protocols, there is a need to singly house experimental rats. Since rodents are classified as social animals in nature, housing rats singly will result in stress to the animals. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of enrichment to the stress leukogram, f...

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Main Authors: Chia, Kay Thuan, Hussein, Fuzina Nor, Mutalib, Abdul Rahim
Format: Conference or Workshop Item
Language:English
Published: 2012
Online Access:http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/26799/1/PROCEEDING%2024.pdf
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/26799/
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spelling my.upm.eprints.267992016-08-10T08:00:08Z http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/26799/ Effect of enrichment on stress level of laboratory rats Chia, Kay Thuan Hussein, Fuzina Nor Mutalib, Abdul Rahim In certain biomedical research protocols, there is a need to singly house experimental rats. Since rodents are classified as social animals in nature, housing rats singly will result in stress to the animals. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of enrichment to the stress leukogram, feed intake, weight gain and behavior of singly-housed rats as opposed to singly-housed rats without enrichment and pair-housed rats. Eighteen 5 weeks old, male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned to three groups; singly-housed without enrichment, singly-housed with enrichment (provided with enrichment nestlets), and pair-housed. The rats were acclimatized for 7 days before start of study. Blood samplings were done on days 0, 14 and 26 for complete blood and differential counts. Feed intake and weight gain were recorded every 4 days and on days 0, 14 and 26. Behavioral assessment was done every week for 10 minutes for each cage. Results showed significant neutropenia in the singly-housed rats with and without enrichment as opposed to neutrophilia in the pair-housed rats. Monocytosis and eosinophilia were also more evident in the singly-housed rats without enrichment than in either the pair-housed rats or singly-housed rats with enrichment. However, there was no significant difference in other blood parameters, feed intake and weight gain. Singly-housed rats without enrichment also showed significantly higher stereotypical behavior when compared to rats in the other two groups. Thus, it could be concluded that singly-housed rats did not show higher stress level than pair-housed rats in the short term. Enrichment nestlets too have been proven to be effective in reducing some degree stress, aggression and stereotypical behavior in singly-housed rats. 2012 Conference or Workshop Item PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/26799/1/PROCEEDING%2024.pdf Chia, Kay Thuan and Hussein, Fuzina Nor and Mutalib, Abdul Rahim (2012) Effect of enrichment on stress level of laboratory rats. In: 7th Seminar in Veterinary Sciences, 27 Feb.-2 Mar. 2012, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universiti Putra Malaysia. (p. 82).
institution Universiti Putra Malaysia
building UPM Library
collection Institutional Repository
continent Asia
country Malaysia
content_provider Universiti Putra Malaysia
content_source UPM Institutional Repository
url_provider http://psasir.upm.edu.my/
language English
description In certain biomedical research protocols, there is a need to singly house experimental rats. Since rodents are classified as social animals in nature, housing rats singly will result in stress to the animals. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of enrichment to the stress leukogram, feed intake, weight gain and behavior of singly-housed rats as opposed to singly-housed rats without enrichment and pair-housed rats. Eighteen 5 weeks old, male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned to three groups; singly-housed without enrichment, singly-housed with enrichment (provided with enrichment nestlets), and pair-housed. The rats were acclimatized for 7 days before start of study. Blood samplings were done on days 0, 14 and 26 for complete blood and differential counts. Feed intake and weight gain were recorded every 4 days and on days 0, 14 and 26. Behavioral assessment was done every week for 10 minutes for each cage. Results showed significant neutropenia in the singly-housed rats with and without enrichment as opposed to neutrophilia in the pair-housed rats. Monocytosis and eosinophilia were also more evident in the singly-housed rats without enrichment than in either the pair-housed rats or singly-housed rats with enrichment. However, there was no significant difference in other blood parameters, feed intake and weight gain. Singly-housed rats without enrichment also showed significantly higher stereotypical behavior when compared to rats in the other two groups. Thus, it could be concluded that singly-housed rats did not show higher stress level than pair-housed rats in the short term. Enrichment nestlets too have been proven to be effective in reducing some degree stress, aggression and stereotypical behavior in singly-housed rats.
format Conference or Workshop Item
author Chia, Kay Thuan
Hussein, Fuzina Nor
Mutalib, Abdul Rahim
spellingShingle Chia, Kay Thuan
Hussein, Fuzina Nor
Mutalib, Abdul Rahim
Effect of enrichment on stress level of laboratory rats
author_facet Chia, Kay Thuan
Hussein, Fuzina Nor
Mutalib, Abdul Rahim
author_sort Chia, Kay Thuan
title Effect of enrichment on stress level of laboratory rats
title_short Effect of enrichment on stress level of laboratory rats
title_full Effect of enrichment on stress level of laboratory rats
title_fullStr Effect of enrichment on stress level of laboratory rats
title_full_unstemmed Effect of enrichment on stress level of laboratory rats
title_sort effect of enrichment on stress level of laboratory rats
publishDate 2012
url http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/26799/1/PROCEEDING%2024.pdf
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/26799/
_version_ 1643829013950496768
score 13.211869

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