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- Title
Comparative Impact of Various Fasting Periods on the Welfare of Sprague-Dawley Rats With or Without Supplementation.
- Authors
Adedeji, Adeyemi O.; Zhong, Fiona; Corpuz, Janice; Hu, Fangyao; Zhao, Xiaofeng; Sangaraju, Dewakar; Ruff, Catherine F.; Dybdal, Noel
- Abstract
In nonclinical toxicology studies, lab animals are fasted typically overnight, to reduce variability in some clinical pathology parameters. However, fasting adds undue stress, and this is particularly concerning in rodents given their fast metabolic rates. Furthermore, as rodents are nocturnal animals, an overnight fasting may cause a protracted negative metabolic state even when the fasting has technically ended, given their minimal activity and food consumption during the day. Therefore, to evaluate the impacts of different fasting durations (±DietGel supplementation) on rats' welfare, we assessed the traditional and ancillary clinical pathology parameters in Sprague-Dawley rats, along with body weight, organ weight, and histopathology. Although most endpoints were comparable between the different fasting durations (±DietGel supplementation), the long fasting times (≥8 hr) without DietGel supplementation caused significant decreases in body weight, liver weight, liver glycogen content, serum glucose, triglyceride, and creatinine concentrations—all findings suggestive of a negative energy balance that could impact animal welfare and consequently, data quality; while the short fasting time (4 hr) and DietGel supplementation were associated with higher triglycerides variability. Hence, we propose that short fasting time should be adequate for most toxicology studies in rats, and long fasting times should only be accommodated with scientific justification.
- Subjects
DIETARY supplements; ANIMAL welfare; NOCTURNAL animals; LABORATORY animals; CLINICAL pathology; RATS; SPRAGUE Dawley rats; FOOD consumption; SERUM
- Publication
Toxicologic Pathology, 2024, Vol 52, Issue 1, p21
- ISSN
0192-6233
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1177/01926233241230536