Investigation of behavioural and physiological responses to fin-clipping in zebra fish

斑马鱼剪鳍行为和生理反应的研究

• 批准号: NC/K000551/1
• 负责人: Gidona Goodman
• 金额: $ 9.48万
• 依托单位: University of Edinburgh
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2012 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=NC%2FK000551%2F1
• 关键词: Investigation; behavioural; physiological; responses; fin

Zebra fish are extensively used as research animals. Use of zebra fish as experimental animals is increasing, mainly because zebra fish have particular characteristics that make them very suitable for genetic research on embryo development and are becoming popular as a replacement for mammals in biomedical, pharmacological and genetic research. Genetic analysis requires a tissue sample, which in zebra fish is obtained through fin clipping, i.e. the surgical removal of part of the caudal fin. This procedure is carried out under general anaesthesia but without the provision of pain relief following the procedure. Thus, there is potential for fish undergoing this procedure to experience pain once they wake up. Recent studies have provided anatomical, neurophysiological and behavioural evidence for the capability of different species of fish (including zebra fish) to experience pain. Tailfin clipping has been proven to induce pain-associated responses in various fish species. However, the potential of fin clipping to be painful and therefore produce changes in the behaviour and physiology of zebra fish has not been investigated. As large numbers of zebra fish undergo this procedure every year we hope this study will help refine this procedure if required and improve fish welfare in research. By video-recording and analysing the behaviour and measuring physiological parameters (such as operculum/respiratory rate and non-invasive stress hormone -cortisol- measurement) of tailfin-clipped fish and comparing these parameters with appropriate control fish, we would identify potential behavioural and physiological indicators that might reflect a painful response to the injury. We will also develop behavioural tests which would assess if fin clipping evokes an emotional response in zebra fish, manifested as changes in motivation and attention. These tests will measure, for example, the fear response to a novel object and the use of enrichment items such as an opaque cover, both of which have been reported to be decreased in fish suffering from pain.The final part of the study would aim at investigating the effect of painkillers (i.e. morphine) on the behavioural and physiological pain indicators identified in the first part of the study, in order to validate that these indicators are indeed caused by pain. The results from this study could potentially influence future policies for tissue collection for genetic analysis and lead to the development of refinements for this procedure, for example with the use of appropriate pain relief. Pain indicators identified during this study could be used in further studies and could also be integrated into pain assessment protocols, monitoring systems and as parameters for assessing painkiller efficacy. Findings from this study could also be implemented in other potentially painful procedures which would result in improving the welfare of laboratory fish worldwide.

斑马鱼被广泛用作研究动物。斑马鱼作为实验动物的使用正在增加，主要是因为斑马鱼具有特殊的特性，使其非常适合胚胎发育的遗传研究，并且在生物医学，药理学和遗传研究中作为哺乳动物的替代品越来越受欢迎。遗传分析需要组织样本，而在斑马鱼中，组织样本是通过剪鳍获得的，即手术切除部分尾鳍。该手术在全身麻醉下进行，但手术后不提供疼痛缓解。因此，接受这种程序的鱼在醒来后可能会感到疼痛。最近的研究提供了解剖学、神经生理学和行为学证据，证明不同种类的鱼（包括斑马鱼）有感受疼痛的能力。剪尾鳍已被证明会引起各种鱼类的疼痛相关反应。然而，潜在的鳍剪是痛苦的，因此产生的行为和生理变化的斑马鱼尚未调查。由于每年都有大量的斑马鱼经历这一过程，我们希望这项研究将有助于在必要时完善这一过程，并提高研究中的鱼类福利。通过录像和分析行为和测量生理参数（如鳃盖/呼吸频率和非侵入性应激激素-皮质醇测量），并将这些参数与适当的对照鱼进行比较，我们将确定可能反映对损伤的痛苦反应的潜在行为和生理指标。我们还将开发行为测试，以评估剪鳍是否会引起斑马鱼的情绪反应，表现为动机和注意力的变化。例如，这些测试将测量对新物体的恐惧反应以及使用不透明盖子等丰富物品的情况，据报道，这两种情况在遭受疼痛的鱼类中都会减少。研究的最后一部分旨在调查止痛药的效果（即吗啡）对研究第一部分中确定的行为和生理疼痛指标的影响，以验证这些指标确实是由疼痛引起的。这项研究的结果可能会影响未来用于遗传分析的组织收集政策，并导致该程序的改进，例如使用适当的疼痛缓解。本研究中确定的疼痛指标可用于进一步的研究，也可纳入疼痛评估方案，监测系统和评估止痛药疗效的参数。这项研究的结果也可以在其他可能痛苦的程序中实施，从而改善全球实验室鱼类的福利。