Name: Hand-Rearing Procedure for Raising Newborn Marmosets
Uploaded: 2023-06-09T13:40:00
Description: Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Hand-Rearing Procedure for Raising Newborn Marmosets at JoVE.com

hand-rearing procedure for raising newborn marmosets

手飼育によるマーモセットの生存と発達の促進

The common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) is a small and arboreal New World monkey originating from South and Central America. The use of marmosets in biomedical research has grown rapidly over the past decades due to several key advantages of marmosets compared with other non-human primates (NHPs), including their smaller body size, easier handling and breeding in captivity, shorter gestation time, earlier sexual maturation, and lower zoonotic risks1,2,3,4,5,6. The common marmoset has a similar brain structure and brain function to humans and displays a rich repertoire of vocalizations and highly social behavior with rich emotions. It is a compelling NHP model for different types of neuroscience studies, such as studies on sensory processing7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14, vocal communication15,16,17,18,19, models of spinal cord injury20,21,22,23, Parkinson&#39;s disease24,25,26,27,28, and age-related diseases29. Compared with other NHPs, the common marmoset has a relatively high reproduction rate, which is potentially useful for transgenic modification30,31,32. This primate is also widely used in pharmacology, angiography, and pathogen and immune studies33,34,35,36,37,38,39. However, the supply of marmosets remains very limited, especially in China, and cannot meet the rapidly growing needs of scientific research.
In marmoset colonies, the adult animals are fed once or twice per day, and a few institutions alter the diet for juvenile marmosets40. Generally, infant marmosets usually grasp firmly onto the body of the father or elder siblings for daily care and are handed to the mother several times per day for milk. Some female marmosets give birth to triplets, and in this case, one or two infants cannot survive due to a lack of milk; moreover, some parents do not take care of their infants because they lack nursing experience or for other unknown reasons. This is a big loss for many laboratories. A few studies have reported methods of nutrition management for adult marmosets in captive settings40,41,42 utilizing foods and formulas with different macronutrient compositions, vitamins, and minerals, as well as different feeding protocols for enrichment (mashed, gelled, purified, or canned)2,41. One previous study reported a collaborative rearing method for marmoset triplets43, in which caregivers take one infant per day, hand-feed it throughout the day, and exchange it for another of the triplets on the next day. Although this method allows the infants to have parental care, it requires an experienced caregiver to grab the infant from the body of the parents every day and is labor-intensive. So far, no study has reported a detailed, step-by-step hand-rearing method for newborn marmosets.
The goal of the current study is to provide a hand-rearing method for those interested in marmoset development but with limited resources. In contrast to the previous collaborative rearing method43, the current method is an alternative that causes less disturbance to the infant&#39;s family and is easy to learn. Based on the basic rules of breastfeeding and 5 years of practice, this paper describes a hand-rearing method for raising infant marmosets that includes the preparation of the food, a timetable for feeding, the configuration of the temperature and humidity of the animal incubator, as well as the adaptation of the infant animals to the colony environment.

著者スポットライト: マーモセット研究 - 範囲と課題 

マーモセット児の手飼育方法

The marmoset is a highly vocal and highly social New World monkey with high reproductive rate. We are interested in the sound processing in the brain of marmosets, the vocal development and vocal communications of infant marmosets, as well as the establishment of marmoset models of human mental diseases. The current big challenge is the shortage of marmoset supply, which cannot meet the needs of scientific research and thus, impede the progress of marmoset studies.Another challenge is the lack of experiments in maintaining a marmoset colony. This hand-rearing method significantly increases the survival rate of marmoset infants, and provides the opportunity to study the development of marmoset infants with a similar genetic backgrounds, but raised in different postnatal environments.

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Hand-Rearing Procedure for Raising Newborn Marmosets at JoVE.com

Hand-Rearing Procedure for Raising Newborn Marmosets  

新生マーモセットの飼育手順

まず、次亜塩素酸または75%エチルアルコールを床とテーブルにスプレーして、部屋を掃除して殺菌します。30秒間放置した後、テーブルを拭き、床をモップで拭きます。インキュベーターの温度を摂氏35度、湿度を40%に設定しますインキュベーターのシャーシを覆うように紙おむつパッドをタイル張りにします。乳児のストレスを最小限に抑えるために、乳児マーモセットを導入する前に、保育器に毛布とぬいぐるみを数枚置きます。滅菌済みの個人用保護具を着用し、毛布を摂氏35度に温めます。乳児マーモセットを暖かい毛布でそっと抱きしめ、動物の体重を出生時体重として取得します。動物を暖かい毛布で保育器に移し、名前、生年月日、出生時体重、両親、その他の関心のある情報などの基本情報を記録します。50ミリリットルの滅菌遠心チューブに30ミリリットルの沸騰したお湯に5グラムの乳児用調製粉乳を溶かします。そして、1ミリリットルの注射器で1ミリリットルの食物を摂取してください。シリンジに特注の給餌ニップルを取り付け、加熱パッドを使用して食品の温度を摂氏30〜35度に維持します。手を温めた後、温かい毛布を片手に優しく抱き、抱いた手の親指と人差し指で頭をそっと押さえながら、授乳乳首を口に入れます。食品を一定の速度でシリンジからゆっくりと押し出します。マーモセットが適量の餌を摂取した後、ぬるま湯の綿棒で肛門を拭いて肛門をきれいにし、排便を促進します。動物の移動を数分間観察し、これらのパラメータを記録します。固形の糞便を拾うか、新しい使い捨ておむつパッドに交換して、インキュベーターのシャーシを清潔に保ちます。P50から始めて、計量皿で材料を直接混ぜて食品を準備します。餌皿をインキュベーターに入れ、ひっくり返った場合に備えて底を固定します。最初の数回は、動物を餌皿に誘い込み、口が餌に数回触れるように誘導することで、動物が自発的に食べるように導きます。マーモセットの赤ちゃんをコロニーに戻す前に、動物インキュベーターから小さなケージに移し、それぞれの小さなケージに50ミリリットルの水筒を掛けます。乳児をコロニーに戻した後、プラスチック製の計量皿で乳児に別々に1週間与えます。体重と排便状況を1日1回記録します。手で育てた乳児の体重は、年齢とともに徐々に増加した。P30とP60での手で育てられた乳児と親で育てられた乳児の体重を比較したところ、これら2つのグループの間に有意差は見られませんでした。