Telemetric Small Intestinal Motility Recording in Awake Rats

Abstract

Introduction: Ideally, gastrointestinal motility recording should be done in freely moving, stress-free animals. However, no such method is currently available for rats. Methods: Two NiCr electrodes were sutured to the jejunum and connected to an implantable electromyographic (EMG) transmitter in rats. EMG signals were radio-transmitted to a receiver placed at the bottom of the rats’ home cages. Results: Fasting and postprandial jejunal EMG signals could be detected by telemetry. Phase III contractions of the MMC were easy to identify visually and occurred at a rate of about 4.8 per hour. Feeding disrupted the phasic contraction pattern 15 min after the start of food intake and lasted for 2 h. The motility index (MI, area under the curve) was calculated and increased postprandially. Conclusion: Telemetric transmission of rat gastrointestinal EMG signals is feasible and results are comparable to those given in the literature.

Assessment of visceral sensitivity using radio telemetry in a rat model of maternal separation

“…However, both conditions are additional stressors possibly interfering with visceral perception 15 . As radio telemetry has previously been shown to reduce stress, 17–20 we aimed at introducing this technique in our rat model of maternal separation. Implantation of the electrodes and transmitter resulted in a small decrease in body weight, from which the animals recovered within 10 days.…”

Seed dispersal of woody plants in tropical forests: concepts, examples and future directions

“…Increasing miniaturization of transmitters makes it possible to track ever smaller animals (Bradshaw & Bradshaw 2002) -and even seeds (Sone & Kohno 1996) -for ever-longer periods. Furthermore, new transmitters make it possible to track not only location but also additional information such as the amount of activity (Kenward 2001), physiological data such as intestinal movements (Meile & Zittel 2002), or even sound recordings (Roland Kays, unpublished data). Finally, GPS and satellite tracking permit very large-scale monitoring of movements (Weimerskirch et al 2002).…”

New Telemetry Device for the Measurement of Gastrointestinal Motility in Rats and Comparison With Standard Equipment

“…A wide variety of technical solutions are available for this purpose, but most are very invasive or require large numbers of animals. [1][2][3][4] Manometry in rats is technically difficult, and animals need to be fixed during measurements. [5][6][7] Transit time permits measurement of the whole intestine, but large numbers of animals are needed because animals have to be killed at each time point.…”

“…10,11 We evaluated a telemetric myoelectric system in the small intestine. 2 We have now developed and evaluated a system for continuous measurement of gastrointestinal motility in awake, freely moving rats using telemetric data acquisition combined with strain gauge transducers.…”