Control strategies for aeroallergens in an animal facility.

BACKGROUND: Prevalence of the occupational disease laboratory animal allergy could be reduced if aeroallergen reduction strategies are identified. OBJECTIVE: To reduce worker exposure to Mus m 1, an allergen from laboratory mice, the effect of filter cage tops, increased room ventilation, negatively pressurized ventilated cages, and ventilated cage-changing tables were evaluated. METHODS: Aeroallergen was collected in the ambient air and in the breathing zone and quantified by using a competitive immunoassay. RESULTS: When mice were housed in unventilated cages, ambient allergen was reduced from 5.1 ng/m3 with no cage top to 1.3 ng/m3 with a simple filter-sheet top and 0.8 ng/m3 with a fitted filter-bonnet top (P \u3c. 05). Room ventilation was increased from 6 to 10, 15, and 20 air changes per hour and had little effect on aeroallergen levels and no impact on airborne particulate matter. When mice were housed in ventilated cages, ambient allergen was significantly reduced from 1. 1 ng/m3 at positive cage pressure to 0.3 ng/m3 at negative cage pressure (P \u3c.05). Negative cage pressure combined with handling animals under a ventilated table reduced breathing zone allergen from 28 ng/m3 with neither control strategy in place to 9 ng/m3 (P \u3c. 05). Use of a ventilated table controlled bacterial contamination, measured as colony forming units, found in negatively pressurized cages. CONCLUSION: Three aeroallergen control strategies are use of filter cage tops, operation of negatively pressurized cages, and use of ventilated changing tables

Distribution of airborne mouse allergen in a major mouse breeding facility.

BACKGROUND: Occupational allergy to mice is a major cause of disability among workers in mouse breeding and research facilities. Efforts to prevent and treat allergy require a detailed knowledge of exposure levels to allergen. OBJECTIVE: This study was designed to quantitate the level of major mouse allergen (Mus m I) in central room air and immediate breathing zones under a variety of working conditions. METHODS: An Andersen sampler (Groseby Andersen, Spirotech Div., Atlanta, Ga.) was used to collect allergen in each room. A Gillian Personal sampler (Gillian Instrument Corp., West Caldwell, N.J.) collected particles in the worker breathing zone. ELISA was used to quantitate the concentration of Mus m I collected on the two collection devices. RESULTS: Total Mus m I recovered from Andersen samplers ranged from 0.2 to 1.5 ng/m3 in rooms without mice and 0.5 to 15.1 ng/m3 in rooms with mice. Allergen recovered from the zone of worker activity ranged from 1.2 to 2.7 ng/m3 in rooms without mice and from 16.6 to 563.0 ng/m3 in rooms with mice. Direct mouse contact was associated with the highest levels of exposure to Mus m I. Analysis revealed the bulk of allergen to be in mid-particle size ranges (3.3 to 10 microns) for mouse-containing rooms and in small particle size range (0.43 to 3.3 microns) for non-mouse-containing rooms, suggesting that small particles were carried along corridors from rooms with mice into non-mouse-containing rooms. Ventilation characteristics of rooms and mouse population density were evaluated with a mouse loading index (number of mice per cubic meter of ventilated air per hour). Mouse loading correlated strongly with small particles (\u3c 3.3 microns) in ambient air. CONCLUSIONS: Mus m I is widely distributed within mouse breeding facilities. Direct worker contact with mice seems to be the major factor in high level exposure

The effect of relative humidity on mouse allergen levels in an environmentally controlled mouse room.

To determine the effect of humidity on the levels of the mouse allergen Mus m 1, an experimental animal room was constructed to control environmental variables. The sex, strain, age, and number of mice was constant in the room, so that the average daily production of Mus m 1 would not vary greatly. Six different levels of relative humidity from 15% to 65% were maintained for a minimum of a week each. Daily collections of airborne particulates were eluted from filters and Mus m 1 content measured by immunological assay. Increasing relative humidity caused a decrease in Mus m 1 levels from a high of 3 ng/m3 at 15% humidity to a low of 0.5 ng/m3 at 65% humidity. Thus, reduction of airborne allergen levels can be achieved by careful attention to humidity control, especially during the winter heating season when humidity levels may be low. This experimental room can be used to measure the effect of other variables such as ventilation rate, caging, bedding, and work practices on the levels of mouse allergen in an animal facility

Air quality in an animal facility: particulates, ammonia, and volatile organic compounds.

Concentrations of ammonia, volatile organic compounds, particles, and mouse allergen were measured in an animal facility. Ammonia concentrations averaged less than 1 ppm, below any health-based standards. The concentrations of volatile organic compounds were in the 5-15 micrograms/m3 range. Among the volatile organic compounds found, only the terpenes a-pinene and a-terpinol (which may be derived from the pine shavings used as bedding) were consistently present in concentrations greater than outdoor air. The primary air contaminant present at concentrations high enough to be of known physiological significance was the mouse allergen, Mus ml. To determine which activities in an animal room generated the highest concentrations of airborne Mus ml, a monitor that counted particles continuously was used. The particle counts were correlated with allergen levels in the worker\u27s breathing zone (r50.83,p,0.05). Thus, a particle counter can be used effectively in an animal facility to identify specific activities that generate high levels of both particles and allergen. Such activities included changing mice from soiled to clean cages, cleaning floors, and changing foam inserts in pressurized individually ventilated cages. To reduce exposure to allergen during cage changing, which is the major activity for an animal caretaker, a capture-type ventilated changing table was designed and tested. Use of such a table reduced exposure to allergen in the worker\u27s breathing zone from 4.961.1 to 2.160.3 ng Mus ml/m3, a level comparable to background levels

Distinct genetic interactions between multiple Vegf receptors are required for development of different blood vessel types in zebrafish

Recent evidence indicates a specific role for vascular endothelial growth factor a (Vegfa) during artery development in both zebrafish and mouse embryos, whereas less is known about signals that govern vein formation. In zebrafish, loss of vegfa blocks segmental artery formation and reduces artery-specific gene expression, whereas veins are largely unaffected. Here, we describe a mutation in the zebrafish vegf receptor-2 homolog, kdra, which eliminates its kinase activity and leads to specific defects in artery development. We further find that Flt4, a receptor for Vegfc, cooperates with Kdr during artery morphogenesis, but not differentiation. We also identify an additional zebrafish vegfr-2 ortholog, referred to as kdrb, which can partially compensate for loss of kdra but is dispensable for vascular development in wild-type embryos. Interestingly, we find that these Vegf receptors are also required for formation of veins but in distinct genetic interactions that differ from those required for artery development. Taken together, our results indicate that formation of arteries and veins in the embryo is governed in part by different Vegf receptor combinations and suggest a genetic mechanism for generating blood vessel diversity during vertebrate development