Comprehensive Digital Documentation of Teratology studies.

One of the main endpoints for the evaluation of Developmental and Reproductive Toxicology (DART) studies is the determination of potential effects of a test substance on the skeleton during foetal development. In the course of a DART study according to the OECD 414 guideline, 400 to 500 gestational day 20-old (GD20), alizarin red and alcian blue-stained (ARAB) rat foetuses have to be assessed by a teratology expert, which is a time consuming and sub-optimally documented process. We have developed a method which allows for a standardised, comprehensive, quick and easy to perform, head-to-toe digital documentation of ARAB-stained GD20 rat foetuses.

Time-restricted feeding during embryonic development leads to metabolic dysfunction in adult rat offspring.

Objectives: Maternal circadian eating time and frequency are associated with altered glucose metabolism during pregnancy in humans. Research on long maternal fasting intervals is inconclusive, and little is known about the effect of maternal time feeding on offspring health. Therefore, the aim of the present study is to determine whether maternal time feeding influences the metabolic status of both male and female offspring.

Patterns in the distribution and directional asymmetry of fleas living on the northern white-breasted hedgehog Erinaceus roumanicus.

Fleas infecting northern white-breasted hedgehogs, Erinaceus roumanicus (Barrett-Hamilton), collected from 2009-2011 in Budapest (Hungary) were studied. A total of 305 white-breasted hedgehogs were captured and 1,251 fleas were collected. The flea community comprised two species, the hedgehog flea Archaeopsylla erinacei (Bouche, 1835) and the dog flea Ctenocephalides canis (Curtis, 1826), although the latter was only found on three hedgehogs.

Glibenclamide treatment blocks metabolic dysfunctions and improves vagal activity in monosodium glutamate-obese male rats.

Background/aims: Autonomic nervous system imbalance is associated with metabolic diseases, including diabetes. Glibenclamide is an antidiabetic drug that acts by stimulating insulin secretion from pancreatic beta cells and is widely used in the treatment of type 2 diabetes. Since there is scarce data concerning autonomic nervous system activity and diabetes, the aim of this work was to test whether glibenclamide can improve autonomic nervous system activity and muscarinic acetylcholine receptor function in pre-diabetic obese male rats.