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Larger cages with housing unit environment enrichment improve the welfare of marmosets

The provision of adequate space for laboratory animals is essential not only for good welfare but accurate studies. For example, housing conditions for primates used in biomedical research may negatively affect welfare and thus the reliability of findings. In common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus), a...

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Autores principales: Yoshimoto, Takuro, Takahashi, Eiki, Yamashita, Shunji, Ohara, Kiichi, Niimi, Kimie
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Japanese Association for Laboratory Animal Science 2017
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5814312/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28824049
http://dx.doi.org/10.1538/expanim.17-0058
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author Yoshimoto, Takuro
Takahashi, Eiki
Yamashita, Shunji
Ohara, Kiichi
Niimi, Kimie
author_facet Yoshimoto, Takuro
Takahashi, Eiki
Yamashita, Shunji
Ohara, Kiichi
Niimi, Kimie
author_sort Yoshimoto, Takuro
collection PubMed
description The provision of adequate space for laboratory animals is essential not only for good welfare but accurate studies. For example, housing conditions for primates used in biomedical research may negatively affect welfare and thus the reliability of findings. In common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus), an appropriate cage size enables a socially harmonious family environment and optimizes reproductive potential. In this study, we investigated the effects of cage size on body weight (BW), behavior, and nursing succession in the common marmoset. Large cages (LCs) with environment enrichment led to an increase in BW while small cages (SCs) caused stereotypic behaviors that were not observed in LCs. In addition, the BW of infants increased with aging in LCs. Our findings indicate that the welfare of marmosets was enhanced by living in LCs. Research on non-human primates is essential for understanding the human brain and developing knowledge-based strategies for the diagnosis and treatment of psychiatric and neurological disorders. Thus, the present findings are important because they indicate that different cages may influence emotional and behavioral phenotypes.
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spelling pubmed-58143122018-02-22 Larger cages with housing unit environment enrichment improve the welfare of marmosets Yoshimoto, Takuro Takahashi, Eiki Yamashita, Shunji Ohara, Kiichi Niimi, Kimie Exp Anim Original The provision of adequate space for laboratory animals is essential not only for good welfare but accurate studies. For example, housing conditions for primates used in biomedical research may negatively affect welfare and thus the reliability of findings. In common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus), an appropriate cage size enables a socially harmonious family environment and optimizes reproductive potential. In this study, we investigated the effects of cage size on body weight (BW), behavior, and nursing succession in the common marmoset. Large cages (LCs) with environment enrichment led to an increase in BW while small cages (SCs) caused stereotypic behaviors that were not observed in LCs. In addition, the BW of infants increased with aging in LCs. Our findings indicate that the welfare of marmosets was enhanced by living in LCs. Research on non-human primates is essential for understanding the human brain and developing knowledge-based strategies for the diagnosis and treatment of psychiatric and neurological disorders. Thus, the present findings are important because they indicate that different cages may influence emotional and behavioral phenotypes. Japanese Association for Laboratory Animal Science 2017-08-18 2018 /pmc/articles/PMC5814312/ /pubmed/28824049 http://dx.doi.org/10.1538/expanim.17-0058 Text en ©2018 Japanese Association for Laboratory Animal Science This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives (by-nc-nd) License. (CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
spellingShingle Original
Yoshimoto, Takuro
Takahashi, Eiki
Yamashita, Shunji
Ohara, Kiichi
Niimi, Kimie
Larger cages with housing unit environment enrichment improve the welfare of marmosets
title Larger cages with housing unit environment enrichment improve the welfare of marmosets
title_full Larger cages with housing unit environment enrichment improve the welfare of marmosets
title_fullStr Larger cages with housing unit environment enrichment improve the welfare of marmosets
title_full_unstemmed Larger cages with housing unit environment enrichment improve the welfare of marmosets
title_short Larger cages with housing unit environment enrichment improve the welfare of marmosets
title_sort larger cages with housing unit environment enrichment improve the welfare of marmosets
topic Original
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5814312/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28824049
http://dx.doi.org/10.1538/expanim.17-0058
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