Basic Procedures: Dosing, Sampling and Immunisation

This chapter describes proven and tested refinements applicable to administration of substances to rodents, and identifies those technical procedures that are potentially stressful. Intragastric gavage is widely used for the administration of compounds in pharmacological, pharmacokinetic and toxicological studies in laboratory animals. Oral immunisation techniques are being developed and, if successful, will eliminate the need for restraint and distress associated with administration of antigen and withdrawal of blood to harvest antibodies. The antibody response to most antigens seems to be under polygenic control involving histocompatibility antigens; often there is both a species and strain difference. A sex difference in the magnitude of antibody response within inbred strains has been observed and antibody secretion is impaired during pregnancy in the mouse. Scientists performing an immunisation procedure generally wish to achieve a high antibody titre, within a short time, and the antibody itself should be specific and of high affinity.