A technique for repeated blood and cerebrospinal fluid sampling from individual rats over time without the need for repeated anesthesia.

Ethical animal use follows the 3R's: Replacement, Reduction and Refinement. Here, we present the use of simultaneous jugular vein and cisterna magna catheterization via a port system in rats for repeated fluid sampling for 14 consecutive days without loss of catheter patency. This technique allows repeated intra-animal sampling without anesthesia and, if used with pooling samples from a cohort of animals, replaces the need for terminal collections for sufficient sample volumes.

Alterations in Tau Metabolism in ALS and ALS-FTSD.

There is increasing acceptance that amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), classically considered a neurodegenerative disease affecting almost exclusively motor neurons, is syndromic with both clinical and biological heterogeneity. This is most evident in its association with a broad range of neuropsychological, behavioral, speech and language deficits [collectively termed ALS frontotemporal spectrum disorder (ALS-FTSD)]. Although the most consistent pathology of ALS and ALS-FTSD is a disturbance in TAR DNA binding protein 43 kDa (TDP-43) metabolism, alterations in microtubule-associated tau protein (tau) metabolism can also be observed in ALS-FTSD, most prominently as pathological phosphorylation at Thr (pThrtau).