INEXPENSIVE CONTINUOUS-INFUSION SWIVEL - TOWARDS MORE PHYSIOLOGICAL MEASUREMENTS

A cheap, simple and fast procedure of building an infusion swivel is d escribed for both short- and long-term experiments in rats. To assembl e the swivel, plastic laboratory syringe elements, needles and a three -way stopcock are used. The swivel avoids cannula-kinking and permits animals free movement inside the cage. In addition, the gadget present ed is inexpensive enough to make it disposable. Further advantages of the self-made infusion swivel depend on its disposability, it is time- saving, simplifies blood sampling or administration of drugs and preve nts contamination, when using radiolabelled products. The haemodynamic s and metabolism of rat subjected to restraint stress or ether-anaesth etized rats significantly differ from those of conscious freely moving animals. Whereas restraint stress provoked a more pronounced increase of blood pressure and heart rate, ether anaesthesia induced a 19 % ri se in serum glucose. Thus, the device described in this study provides more physiological experimental conditions.