reproductive-techniques-for-ovarian-monitoring-control

Reproductive Techniques for Ovarian Monitoring and Control in Amphibians

Ovarian control and monitoring in amphibians require a multi-faceted approach. There are several applications that can successfully induce reproductive ...

Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle

Amphibian surgery has been especially described in research. Since the last decade, interest for captive amphibians has increased, so have the indications for surgical intervention. Clinicians should not hesitate to advocate such manipulations. Amphibian surgeries have no overwhelming obstacles. These patients heal well and tolerate blood loss more than higher vertebrates. Most procedures described in reptiles (mostly lizards) can be undertaken in most amphibians if equipment can be matched to the patients' size. In general, the most difficult aspect would be the provision of adequate anesthesia. 

Surgery in Amphibians.

Reproduction of amphibians includes ovulation, spermiation, fertilization, oviposition, larval stage and development, and metamorphosis. A problem at any stage could lead to reproductive failure. To stimulate reproduction, environmental conditions must be arranged to simulate changes in natural habits. Reproductive life history is well documented in amphibians; a thorough knowledge of this subject will aid the practitioner in diagnosis and treatment. Technologies for artificial reproduction are developing rapidly, and some protocols may be transferable to privately kept or endangered species. Reproductive tract disorders are rarely described; no bacterial or viral diseases are known that specifically target the amphibian reproductive system.

Reproductive Medicine in Amphibians.

Models of cardiac repair are needed to understand mechanisms underlying failure to regenerate in human cardiac tissue. Such studies are currently dominated by the use of zebrafish and mice. Remarkably, it is between these two evolutionary separated species that the adult cardiac regenerative capacity is thought to be lost, but causes of this difference remain largely unknown. Amphibians, evolutionary positioned between these two models, are of particular interest to help fill this lack of knowledge. We thus developed an endoscopy-based resection method to explore the consequences of cardiac injury in adult Xenopus laevis. This method allowed in situ live heart observation, standardised tissue amputation size and reproducibility. During the first week following amputation, gene expression of cell proliferation markers remained unchanged, whereas those relating to sarcomere organisation decreased and markers of inflammation, fibrosis and hypertrophy increased. One-month post-amputation, fibrosis and hypertrophy were evident at the injury site, persisting through 11 months. Moreover, cardiomyocyte sarcomere organisation deteriorated early following amputation, and was not completely recovered as far as 11 months later. We conclude that the adult Xenopus heart is unable to regenerate, displaying cellular and molecular marks of scarring. Our work suggests that, contrary to urodeles and teleosts, with the exception of medaka, adult anurans share a cardiac injury outcome similar to adult mammals. This observation is at odds with current hypotheses that link loss of cardiac regenerative capacity with acquisition of homeothermy.

Norin Chai

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Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle

Reproductive Techniques for Ovarian Monitoring and Control in Amphibians

Norin Chai

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Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle

Reproductive Techniques for Ovarian Monitoring and Control in Amphibians

Menagerie du Jardin des Plantes