Good Anesthesia Practice for Fish and Other Aquatics

Fish and other aquatic animals represent a significant number of species with diverse physiology, size, and housing condition needs. Anesthesia may be necessary for several husbandry procedures as well as treatment of diseases, surgery, or experimental procedures. Choice of drugs and detailed procedures for anesthesia must be adapted to the species in question—there is no “one size fits all” solution. However, there are some basic principles that apply for good anesthetic practice of all animals. These principles include the preparations of animals, personnel, facilities and equipment, monitoring animals under anesthesia, as well as post-anesthetic care to be sure that animals are not lost in the recovery phase. Good anesthesia practice also includes the competence and commitment of personnel involved. Based on professional judgement, key factors will be the focus of this text.publishedVersio

Dog-assisted interventions for adults diagnosed with schizophrenia and related disorders: a systematic review

Background: Many individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia and related disorders experience insufficient symptom relief from currently available treatment options. Researching additional venues should be prioritized. This systematic review, designed in accordance with PRISMA, examined the effect of targeted and structured dog-assisted interventions as a supplementary treatment. Methods: Randomized as well as non-randomized studies were included. Systematic searches were conducted in APA PsycInfo, AMED, CENTRAL, Cinahl, Embase, Medline, Web of Science, and in several sources covering “gray” (unpublished) literature. In addition, forward and backward citation searches were performed. A narrative synthesis was conducted. Quality of evidence and risk of bias were assessed in accordance with GRADE and RoB2/ROBINS-I criteria. Results: 12 publications from 11 different studies met eligibility criteria. Overall, studies showed diverging results. General psychopathology, positive and negative symptoms of psychosis, anxiety, stress, self-esteem, self-determination, lower body strength, social function, and quality of life were among the outcome measures with significant improvement. Most documentation for significant improvement was found for positive symptoms. One study indicated significant deterioration of non-personal social behavior. The risk of bias was high or serious for most of the outcome measures. Three outcome measures were associated with some concerns regarding risk of bias, and three with low risk of bias. Quality of evidence was graded low or very low for all outcome measures. Conclusions: The included studies indicate potential effects of dog-assisted interventions for adults diagnosed with schizophrenia and related disorders, mostly beneficial. Nevertheless, low number of participants, heterogeneity, and risk of bias complicate the interpretation of results. Carefully designed randomized controlled trials are needed to determine causality between interventions and treatment effects.publishedVersio

Intestinal permeability and gene expression after polyethylene and polyamide microplastic ingestion in Wistar rats

Microplastic particles are ubiquitous in the environment. However, little is known about their uptake and effects in humans or mammalian model organisms. Here, we studied the effects of pristine polyamide (15–20 µm) and polyethylene (40–48 µm) particles after oral ingestion in rats. The animals received feed containing microplastic particles (0.1% polyamide or polyethylene, or a mixture of both polymers) or a control diet without microplastic particles, for 5 weeks. The permeability of the duodenum was investigated in an Ussing chamber, whereas gene expression and concentration of tight junction proteins were measured in gut tissue and plasma. Microplastic particles were quantified by pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry in rats’ feces. Rats fed with microplastic particles had higher duodenal permeability. Expression of gene coding for the tight junction protein occludin (OCLN) was higher in PE treated animals compared to control or the PA group. No changes in the expression of the gene coding for zonula occludens protein 1 were detected. Occludin protein concentrations were below the limit of detection of the applied method in both gut and plasma. Zonula occludens protein 1 concentrations in the gut were significantly higher in groups exposed to PA and PE as compared to control, while zonula occludens protein 1 concentrations in plasma did not show significant changes. These results demonstrated that short-term exposure to a dose of 0.1% (w/w) microplastic particles in feed had limited effects on duodenal permeability, expression of pro-inflammatory protein genes and tight junction protein genes in the duodenum.publishedVersio

Good Anesthesia Practice for Fish and Other Aquatics

Fish and other aquatic animals represent a significant number of species with diverse physiology, size, and housing condition needs. Anesthesia may be necessary for several husbandry procedures as well as treatment of diseases, surgery, or experimental procedures. Choice of drugs and detailed procedures for anesthesia must be adapted to the species in question—there is no “one size fits all” solution. However, there are some basic principles that apply for good anesthetic practice of all animals. These principles include the preparations of animals, personnel, facilities and equipment, monitoring animals under anesthesia, as well as post-anesthetic care to be sure that animals are not lost in the recovery phase. Good anesthesia practice also includes the competence and commitment of personnel involved. Based on professional judgement, key factors will be the focus of this text

Intestinal permeability and gene expression after polyethylene and polyamide microplastic ingestion in Wistar rats

Microplastic particles are ubiquitous in the environment. However, little is known about their uptake and effects in humans or mammalian model organisms. Here, we studied the effects of pristine polyamide (15–20 µm) and polyethylene (40–48 µm) particles after oral ingestion in rats. The animals received feed containing microplastic particles (0.1% polyamide or polyethylene, or a mixture of both polymers) or a control diet without microplastic particles, for 5 weeks. The permeability of the duodenum was investigated in an Ussing chamber, whereas gene expression and concentration of tight junction proteins were measured in gut tissue and plasma. Microplastic particles were quantified by pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry in rats’ feces. Rats fed with microplastic particles had higher duodenal permeability. Expression of gene coding for the tight junction protein occludin (OCLN) was higher in PE treated animals compared to control or the PA group. No changes in the expression of the gene coding for zonula occludens protein 1 were detected. Occludin protein concentrations were below the limit of detection of the applied method in both gut and plasma. Zonula occludens protein 1 concentrations in the gut were significantly higher in groups exposed to PA and PE as compared to control, while zonula occludens protein 1 concentrations in plasma did not show significant changes. These results demonstrated that short-term exposure to a dose of 0.1% (w/w) microplastic particles in feed had limited effects on duodenal permeability, expression of pro-inflammatory protein genes and tight junction protein genes in the duodenum