Effect of double density caging during Space Shuttle transport of laboratory rats

Abstract

Male Sprague Dawley rats were housed in groups of four in polycarbonate cages at recommended density and thermal environmental conditions for 14 days prior to testing to ensure uniform acclimation to those conditions. Body weights averaged 286 +/- 7 g at the end of acclimation. Rat cages were assigned randomly to three treatments: (1) 4 rats/polycarbonate cage (877 sq cm, 20.3 cm high, 220 sq cm/rat), (2) 4 rats/mock AEM (MAEM) (620 sq cm, 155 sq cm/rat), and (3) 8 rats/MAEM (620 sq cm, 77.5 sq cm/rat). A comparison between the MAEM-DD and MAEM-SD treatments was done to determine if doubling rat density in AEM's stressed the rats. A comparison among MAEM treatments and the PC treatment was done to determine if any stress indications were due to the AEM. During this density challenge phase, all treatments were maintained at the same thermal environmental conditions (22.5 C and 50 percent RH) for 10 days. After the density challenge phase, half the rats from each group were sacrificed for body tissue and fluid analyses. The remaining half of the rats were housed at a density of 4 rats/cage in polycarbonate cages at normal thermal environmental conditions for an additional 10 days to determine if there were any differences in responses between treatments after a recovery period. The remaining rats were examined and sacrificed for body tissue and fluid analyses at the end of the recovery phase