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Elin Manell
Doctoral Student at the Department of Clinical Sciences; Comparative Medicine and Physiology Unit
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E-mail: elin.manell@slu.se
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Training of pigs used in renal transplantation studies
Last changed: 12 May 2020
The pig is commonly used in renal transplantation studies since the porcine kidney resembles the human kidney. To meet the requirements of intense caretaking and examination without stress, a 2-week socialisation and training programme was developed.
Conventional cross-breed pigs (n = 36) with high health status were trained for 15 min/day in a four-step training programme before kidney transplantation.
The systematic training resulted in calm animals, which allowed for ultrasound examination, blood sampling and urine sampling without restraint. When a 2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine polymer-coated jugular catheter introduced via the auricular vein was used for post-operative blood sampling, clotting was avoided. To assess renal function, urinary output was observed and creatinine and cystatin C were measured; the latter was not found to be useful in recently transplanted pigs.
The results presented contribute to the 3Rs (refine, reduce, replace).
Link to the publication
https://doi.org/10.1177/0023677219879169
Reference
Rydén A, Manell E, Biglarnia A, Hedenqvist P, Strandberg G, Ley C, Hansson K, Nyman G, Jensen-Waern M. Nursing and Training of Pigs Used in Renal Transplantation Studies. Lab Anim, 2019 Oct 24 [Online ahead of print]. DOI: 10.1177/0023677219879169