Octodon degus
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ABSTRACT:
PROVIDER: PRJNA1017364 | ENA |
REPOSITORIES: ENA
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Project description:In recent years, degus (Octodon degus), rodents native to South America, have been becoming increasingly popular as pet animals. Data about neoplastic diseases in this species are still sparse and mainly limited to single-case reports. The aim of this study was to present neoplastic and non-neoplastic proliferative changes in 16/100 pet degus examined at the Veterinary Faculty University of Ljubljana from 2010 to 2015 and to describe the clinic-pathological features of these lesions. Twenty different lesions of the integumentary, musculoskeletal, genitourinary and gastrointestinal systems were diagnosed: amongst these were 13 malignant tumors, six benign tumors, and one non-neoplastic lesion. Cutaneous fibrosarcoma was the most common tumor (7/16 degus). It was detected more often in females (6/7 degus) and lesions were located mainly in hind limbs. The gastrointestinal tract was frequently affected, namely with two malignant neoplasms - an intestinal lymphoma and a mesenteric mesothelioma, four benign tumors - two biliary cystadenomas, an oral squamous papilloma and a hepatocellular adenoma, and a single non-neoplastic proliferative lesion. In one animal, two organic systems were involved in neoplastic lesions.
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Project description:Small laboratory animals have provided significant information about melatonin regulation, yet most of these organisms are nocturnal and regulate melatonin synthesis by mechanisms that diverge from those of humans. For example, in all rodents examined, melatonin secretion occurs with a time lag of several hours after the onset of darkness; in addition, arylalkylamine N-acetyltransferase (AANAT), the key enzyme in melatonin synthesis, displays dynamic transcriptional activation specifically at night in all rodents studied to date. In ungulates and primates including humans, on the other hand, melatonin secretion occurs immediately during the early night and is controlled by circadian posttranscriptional regulation of AANAT. We hypothesize that the diurnal Octodon degus (an Hystricognath rodent) could serve as an improved experimental model for studies of human melatonin regulation. To test this, we monitored melatonin production in degus using pineal microdialysis and characterized the regulation of melatonin synthesis by analyzing degu Aanat. Degu pineal melatonin rises with little latency at night, as in ungulates and primates. In addition, degu Aanat mRNA expression displays no detectable diurnal variation, suggesting that, like ungulates and primates, melatonin in this species is regulated by a posttranscriptional mechanism. Compared with AANAT from all rodents examined to date, the predicted amino acid sequence of degu AANAT is phylogenetically more closely related to ungulate and primate AANAT. These data suggest that Octodon degus may provide an ideal model system for laboratory investigation of mechanisms of melatonin synthesis and secretion in diurnal mammals.
| S-EPMC2837936 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Octodon degus are a diurnal long-lived social animal widely used to perform longitudinal studies and complex cognitive tasks to test for physiological conditions with similitude in human behavior. They show a complex social organization feasible to be studied under different conditions and ages. Several aspects in degus physiology demonstrated that these animals are susceptible to environmental conditions, such as stress, fear, feeding quality, and isolation. However, the relevance of these factors in life of this animal depends on sex and age. Despite its significance, there are few studies with the intent to characterize neurological parameters that include these two parameters. To determine the basal neurophysiological status, we analyzed basic electrophysiological parameters generated during basal activity or synaptic plasticity in the brain slices of young and aged female and male degus. We studied the hippocampal circuit of animals kept in social ambient in captivity under controlled conditions. The study of basal synaptic activity in young animals (12-24 months old) was similar between sexes, but female degus showed more efficient synaptic transmission than male degus. We found the opposite in aged animals (60-84 months old), where male degus had a more efficient basal transmission and facilitation index than female degus. Furthermore, female and male degus develop significant but not different long-term synaptic plasticity (LTP). However, aged female degus need to recruit twice as many axons to evoke the same postsynaptic activity as male degus and four times more when compared to young female degus. These data suggest that, unlike male degus, the neural status of aged female degus change, showing less number or functional axons available at advanced ages. Our data represent the first approach to incorporate the effect of sex along with age progression in basal neural status.
| S-EPMC8918727 | biostudies-literature
Project description:New studies show that the retina also undergoes pathological changes during the development of Alzheimer's disease (AD). While transgenic mouse models used in these previous studies have offered insight into this phenomenon, they do not model human sporadic AD, which is the most common form. Recently, the Octodon degus has been established as a sporadic model of AD. Degus display age-related cognitive impairment associated with Aβ aggregates and phosphorylated tau in the brain. Our aim for this study was to examine the expression of AD-related proteins in young, adult and old degus retina using enzyme-linked or fluorescence immunohistochemistry and to quantify the expression using slot blot and western blot assays. Aβ4G8 and Aβ6E10 detected Aβ peptides in some of the young animals but the expression was higher in the adults. Aβ peptides were observed in the inner and outer segment of the photoreceptors, the nerve fiber layer (NFL) and ganglion cell layer (GCL). Expression was higher in the central retinal region than in the retinal periphery. Using an anti-oligomer antibody we detected Aβ oligomer expression in the young, adult and old retina. Immunohistochemical labeling showed small discrete labeling of oligomers in the GCL that did not resemble plaques. Congo red staining did not result in green birefringence in any of the animals analyzed except for one old (84 months) animal. We also investigated expression of tau and phosphorylated tau. Expression was seen at all ages studied and in adults it was more consistently observed in the NFL-GCL. Hyperphosphorylated tau detected with AT8 antibody was significantly higher in the adult retina and it was localized to the GCL. We confirm for the first time that Aβ peptides and phosphorylated tau are expressed in the retina of degus. This is consistent with the proposal that AD biomarkers are present in the eye.
| S-EPMC4534194 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Cardiovascular diseases represent the leading cause of mortality and morbidity worldwide, and age is an important risk factor. Preclinical models provide supportive evidence toward age-related cardiac changes, as well as allow for the study of pathological aspects of the disease. In the present work, we evaluated the electrocardiogram (ECG) recording in the O. degus during the aging process in both females and males. Taking into account the age and sex, our study provides the normal ranges for the heart rate, duration and voltage of the ECG waves and intervals, as well as electrical axis deviation. We found that the QRS complex duration and QTc significantly increased with age, whereas the heart rate significantly decreased. On the other hand, the P wave, PR and QTc segments durations, S wave voltage and electrical axis were found to be significantly different between males and females. The heart rhythm was also altered in aged animals, resulting in an increased incidence of arrhythmias, especially in males. Based on these results, we suggest that this rodent model could be useful for cardiovascular research, including impacts of aging and biological sex.
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