LIGHT, ENVIRONMENTAL ENRICHMENT AND STRESS

光、环境丰富和压力

• 批准号: 6771748
• 负责人: DAVID M LAWSON
• 金额: $ 33.98万
• 依托单位: WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 1999
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1999-07-01 至 2006-04-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/6771748
• 关键词: age difference; animal care; animal welfare research; autonomic nervous system; behavior test; blood pressure; corticosterone; environmental stressor; gender difference; heart rate; laboratory rat; physiologic stressor; prolactin; psychophysiology; stress; telemetry

DESCRIPTION (Provided by applicant): One of the primary tenants of the federal regulations governing the use of laboratory animals in research is reduction or elimination of unnecessary stress and distress. The practical application of this principle has profound implications to the research community. Not only can stress and distress negatively impact animal welfare but also the physiological perturbations induced by even mild stressors can interfere with the interpretation of research results reducing the productivity of biomedical research. To properly comply with and apply the principle of stress reduction, scientists must determine those factors that research animals commonly experience which induce levels of stress that are either detrimental to their health and well being or, if not detrimental to their welfare, influence experimental results. Effective methods to reduce, eliminate, or at least control these factors in experimental protocols can then be developed. Consequently, the long term goals of the studies in this proposal are: 1) to extend previous and current investigations that have described the effects of some common husbandry and experimental procedures that induce acute stress-like responses of the cardiovascular system, to the characterization of the effects of suspected chronic stressors and to rat strains that are more stress-prone; and 2) to determine how modifications to the animals' physical and social environment can reduce or eliminate stress. To achieve these goals, the following Specific Aims will be addressed: 1) Determine the effects of significantly reduced light intensity and/or a prolonged dark period in animal rooms on cardiovascular, endocrine, and behavioral responses of Sprague-Dawley (SD) and Spontaneously Hypertensive (SHR) male and female rats to suspected or known acute and chronic stressors. 2) Determine the effects of enriching the physical and social environment on cardiovascular, endocrine, and behavioral responses of SD and SHR male and female rats following known or suspected acute and chronic stressors. Cardiovascular measures (blood pressures and heart rate) will be monitored continuously with radiotelemetry to indirectly gauge the activity of the autonomic nervous system; hormones known to be released in response to stressors (prolactin and corticosterone) will be analyzed in the serum of blood samples taken by indwelling catheters and stress related behaviors will be determined by visual observation and standardized behavioral testing. The results should be significant to research investigators and to the federal regulatory agencies that develop animal welfare policies.

描述（由申请人提供）： 联邦管理实验动物研究使用的法规的主要内容之一是减少或消除不必要的压力和痛苦。 这一原则的实际应用对研究界有着深远的影响。 压力和痛苦不仅会对动物福利产生负面影响，而且即使是轻微的压力源引起的生理扰动也会干扰对研究结果的解释，降低生物医学研究的生产力。为了正确地遵守和应用减压原则，科学家必须确定研究动物通常经历的那些因素，这些因素会导致对它们的健康和福祉有害的压力水平，或者如果不是对它们的福利有害，则会影响实验结果。 然后可以开发有效的方法来减少、消除或至少控制实验方案中的这些因素。 因此，本研究的长期目标是：1）将先前和当前的研究（描述了一些常见的饲养和实验程序诱导心血管系统急性应激样反应的影响）扩展到疑似慢性应激源的影响的表征和更易应激的大鼠品系;以及2）确定对动物的物理和社会环境的改变如何能够减少或消除压力。 为了实现这些目标，将解决以下具体目标：1）确定动物房中显著降低的光照强度和/或延长的黑暗期对Sprague-Dawley（SD）和自发性高血压（SHR）雄性和雌性大鼠对疑似或已知急性和慢性应激源的心血管、内分泌和行为反应的影响。 2)确定丰富的物理和社会环境对SD和SHR雄性和雌性大鼠在已知或疑似急性和慢性应激源后的心血管、内分泌和行为反应的影响。 将通过无线电遥测术连续监测心血管指标（血压和心率），以间接测量自主神经系统的活动;将分析通过留置导管采集的血液样本血清中已知的应激源释放激素（催乳素和皮质酮），并通过目视观察和标准化行为测试确定应激相关行为。 研究结果对研究人员和制定动物福利政策的联邦管理机构都有重要意义。