The rat telemetry assay and venous catheter access buttons for use in cardiovascular safety pharmacology assessments – Surgical methods, refinements and colony maintenance

Rat telemetry is the assay of choice to assess the potential effects of novel drug candidates on cardiovascular parameters during early drug discovery. Telemetry device implantation can be combined with venous catheter and access button implantation when intravenous administration of the drug substance is required. Rats (Sprague Dawley or Han Wistar) were implanted with telemetry devices for arterial blood pressure measurement using either direct aortic catheterisation (n = 131) or aortic catheterisation via the femoral artery (n = 17). Bipolar leads for ECG recording were also implanted in some of the animals (n = 102). Femoral vein catheters and access buttons were implanted as a separate surgery after the initial telemetry implantation (n = 43). 128 animals (86%) were implanted successfully with telemetry devices without any notable surgical or post-surgical problems. When considering the 2 different catheterisation methods separately, the success rate of the direct aortic approach was 88% compared to 76% with the aortic placement via the femoral artery. Lameness was the most common post-surgical problem. Blood loss during surgery and ischaemic patches on the tail were also observed at a low incidence with the direct aortic approach. Catheter pull-out occurred in some rats before the first signal check reducing the overall success rate for blood pressure measurement using the direct aortic approach to 85%. A 95% success rate was observed for catheter and access button implantation. A high success rate is possible when implanting telemetry devices in rats with and without venous catheters and access buttons. We have attempted to provide solutions to problems and describe refinements to the procedure which may further improve surgical outcomes.