Jpn. J. Infect. Dis., 55, 2002

Laboratory and Epidemiology Communications

Minimally Invasive Method for Collection of Blood from Guinea Pigs
Masaaki Keino*, Kyoko Hirasawa, Tomoko Watari, Masahiko Kanno,
Masahide Mikawa, Kimio Saito and Kazuo Kato
Department ofMicrobioloBy, Fukushima Prefectural Institute ofPublic Health,
Mitouchi 16‑6, Hokida, Fukushima 960‑8560

Co‑unicated by Kazuo K̲ato(Accepted April 2, 2002)

Red blood cells of gulnea plgS are indispensable to vir0‑
10glCal examinations, such as the hemagglutination inhibi‑tion test fわr innuenza vimses, the hemadsorptlOn test fわrhuman parainfluenza or mumps viruses, etc. As they have notails,the ears are too small, and the veins in the legs are ditrlCultto flnd, cardiac puncture is usually performed for the collection
ofblood from gulnea PlgS. Cardiac puncture, however, often
results in cardiac tamponade (1). Recently, we fわund that

Snitily et al. 's technique of blood collection from the rat foot(2) could be applicable to conventional guinea pigs.
In this study, we used male gulnea PlgS Older than 6 months.

They were housed in cages and freely provided commercial

solid feed, vegetables, and water. Operatlng Procedures consistof the fbllowlng fわur steps.
( i ) Induction of anesthesia: A guinea pi草.is placed in a

desiccator in which a Petri dish contalnlng ethyl etherlS placed and the condition of the animal is obseⅣed.
The animal is removed丘om the desiccator at an earlystage of anesthetization, and is never anesthetized fわr

too long a period.

( ii ) Disinfection and stimulation offoot blood flow: A footFig･ 1 I Blood is collected by capillary action into a hematocrit capillary

is disinfected uslng an alcohol‑soaked cotton andtube. Capillary tubes before use are placed in a disposable Petridish.

mbbed vigorously by a gauze moistened with methyl

A needle fb∫ pu】1Cture is shown in the upper part of the photograph.

salicylate･ Use ofxylene is discouraged because ithams the skin.
(iii) Collection ofblood: A vein between the digits of thefoot is punctured using a 20‑gauge needle･ Oozing
blood is collected uslng a hematocrit capillary tube(Fig･ 1)･ The capillary tube is changed quickly to collect
more blood if oozlng COntinues.

Steps (ii) and (iii) should be performed with the animal
under shallow anesthesia uslng a 50‑m1‑disposable centr血ge
hbe plugged with an etheトSOaked cotton (Fig. 2).

(iv) Transfer of blood into a. solution of sodium citrate:
The capillary tube contalnlng the blood is connected
to an approprlately shortened disposable dropper witha spoid cap. The capillary tube is inserted into acentr血ge山be containlng 3. 1 3% sodium citrate solu‑tion until the bloodinthe capillary tube directly contacts
the sodium citrate solution･ The blood is expelled bycompressing the spoid cap (Fig. 3).
(Ⅴ) A鮎r the op?ration, the punc山red site is pressed withclean paper ln Order to stop the bleeding･We observed no fatalities caused by the repeated collections
ofblood over a period of one year or more･ This technique*Corresponding author: Tel: +81‑24‑54617105, Fax: +8 1124‑546‑

Fig1 2･Anesthesia is maintained by placing a 50‑m1‑disposable centrifuge
tube pluggedwith an ether‑soaked cotton over the nose.

8364, E‑mail:fukushimaeiken@mbp.sphere.ne.jp27Jpn. J. Infect. Dis., 55, 2002
allows the collection of 0.4 ml of whole blood from a gulnea
pig fToot at one time. Ideally, a team consistlng Ofthree persons,one f♭r blood collection, One f♭r a maintenance of anesthesia,

and one for the transfer of blood from hematocrit capillarytubes into a solution of sodium citrate, is necessary fわr asmooth operation.

REFERENCES

1. Hartmann, K., Fischer, S. and bait, W. (1995): Heimtiere
als Patienten in der KleintlerPraXis. Teil2 : Handhabung,

Geschlechtsbestirrmung, Blutentnahme, Medikamenten‑applikation. Tierarztl Prax., 23, 83‑9 1.

2･ Snitily, M.U., Gentry, MJ., Mellencamp, M.A. andPreheim, LC. (1991): A simple method f♭r collection ofblood from the rat foot. Lab. Anim. Sci., 41, 2851287.

Fig･ 31 A dropper and a hematocrit capillary tube are held by the thumband the index finger of one hand while the spoid cap IS compressedby the丘ngers of the other hand. The loss of blood is prevented bydirect contact of a capillary tube with the sodium citrate solution.

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