Roshchina E.A. REFERENCE INTERVALS OF RABBITS ORGANS MASS COEFFICIENTS AND ABSOLUTE WEIGHT. Laboratory Animals for Science. 2022; 1. https://doi.org/10.29296/2618723X-2022-01-05
Assessing organs mass in toxicology studies is an integral part of the study of pharmaceuticals, chemicals, and medical devices. Reference intervals in scientific papers are often based on data from a decade ago or data collected from multiple centers, with possible measurement variability. Therefore, for correct interpretation of data, preclinical centers should establish internal reference intervals for mass coefficients and absolute values of internal organs of experimental animals.
This article defines the reference intervals for the organs mass coefficients of the White Giant rabbits, as well as their absolute values. Data on the mass of rabbits' organs were obtained on the basis of toxicological studies carried out at the Research and manufacturing company «Home оf Pharmacy» for the period 2018 – 2021. The animals were 16 – 22 weeks old at the time of necropsy. The studies were carried out in compliance with the principles of the European Convention for the Protection of Vertebrate Animals used for Experimental and Other Scientific Purposes and in accordance with the rules of good laboratory practice.
In accordance with the recommendations of the Society of Toxicological Pathology (STP), the weights of the following organs were recorded in experimental rabbits: liver, heart, kidneys, brain, spleen, thymus, testes / ovaries, adrenal glands. Additionally, the lung mass was analyzed. With a loss of body weight by animals, against the background of the test object, an increase in the mass coefficients of organs is possible. Therefore, the analysis of data on the mass of organs relative to the mass of the brain can exclude the false influence of the object on the organs, since the mass of the brain does not change with increasing or decreasing body mass. Also, to eliminate such errors, you can analyze the absolute values of the masses of organs.
The data are divided according to the ranges of body weight of rabbits, therefore, each sample contains less than 200 values, which does not allow the use of a parametric method for determining the reference intervals. Thus, the calculation was performed by a nonparametric method.
There were no differences in the ratio of emissions (mass coefficients relative to animal body weight and brain mass and absolute values of organ masses) in male rabbits, but in females the smallest amount of emissions was found when calculating the mass coefficients of organs relative to animal body weight. Therefore, depending on the influence of the studied objects on the body weight of animals, you can use different methods for calculating mass coefficients or absolute values of the mass of organs.
The study was performed without external funding.
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.