Every animal, even the smallest rodent, deserves safe anesthesia, say researchers
Laboratory animals are anesthetized to avoid pain during invasive procedures. Anesthesia is necessary for these animals' welfare, but it is not always without problems: Substandard anesthesia can cause suffering, distort experimental results and force researchers to repeat tests on more animals.
Researchers from the University of Helsinki's Faculty of Veterinary Medicine are advocating for every animal, including the smallest rodents, to receive safe anesthesia during invasive procedures. Anesthesia is crucial for animal welfare, but substandard anesthesia can lead to suffering, distort experimental results, and force researchers to repeat tests on additional animals.
A team at the university is addressing these problems by investigating a drug called vatinoxan, which appears to improve the safety of small rodents during anesthesia.
Dr. Minna Mustikka, a veterinary ophthalmology specialist, is examining whether vatinoxan can prevent the common adverse effect of exophthalmos in rats, where their eyes bulge out of their sockets due to certain sedatives. The research group, collaborating with Finnish company Vetcare, found that vatinoxan prevents this problem and alleviates other adverse effects on the eyes. Dr. Mustikka's findings have been published in the Journal of Ocular Pharmacology and Therapeutics.
Another doctoral student, Dr. Emily Lindh, is investigating how vatinoxan affects blood circulation in rats and mice during sedation. Her research, published in Veterinary Anaesthesia and Analgesia and BMC Veterinary Research, demonstrates that vatinoxan improves tissue oxygenation in rats by reducing adverse circulatory effects of sedatives, inhibiting increased blood glucose caused by these sedatives, and reducing excessive urine output in rats.
Dr. Lindh and Dr. Mustikka, along with veterinarians Anna Meller and Karoliina Alm, emphasize the importance of adhering to the 3R principles in animal research. These principles, guiding research involving laboratory animals worldwide, focus on reducing the number of animals used, replacing animal testing with alternative methods, and refining methods to minimize harm.
The researchers also note that rats and mice quickly adapt to human handling when conducted competently and sensitively, which could further enhance research reliability and animal welfare.
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