Cardiovascular General Pharmacology Studies in Conscious Rats

Cardiovascular General Pharmacology Studies in Conscious Rats 

Cardiovascular parameters such as arterial blood pressure and heart rate can be measured in conscious, free-moving rats using commercially available radio telemetry systems (Deveney et al. 1998). Such systems 

The rats are anesthetized and undergo an aseptic procedure to implant the aortic catheter distal to the renal arteries. The catheter is secured using cyanoacrylate glue. The transmitter and battery unit are placed in the abdomen and attached to the abdominal musculature using a suture. After closure of the surgical wound, the animals are giving sufficient time to recover from the procedure before being used in a study, usually at least one week. 

Studies can be conducted with a group comparison or with cross-over design. Individual parameters can be averaged over predefined time periods but it may not always be possible to predict the time of drug-induced effects. Also, in freely moving animals, drug-induced changes may not be continuous but there may be 

Instrumented animals may be reused after appropriate washout periods on the assumption that the compounds in the doses tested cause no reversible damage. Since the cardiovascular parameters measured are sensitive to the overall well being of the animals, changes in baseline conditions should be examined for detecting possible compound-related toxicities. Assuming such toxicities are not observed, animals can be maintained for over one year with appropriate care. 

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