Blood / Urine / Tissue collection

Objectives

The collection of blood / urine / tissue following compound administration can allow the identification of a mechanism of action performing biochemical and/or histological analysis. Collected samples can also be sent to Pelvipharm’s client if needed.

Summarized methodology

Plasma / blood collection: blood samples (venous / arterial) are collected either in conscious or anesthetized animals, immediately placed at 4°C and centrifuged to collect plasma samples.
Urine collection: Urine harvesting can be performed using metabolic cages and refrigerated collection rack (see metabolic cages), or by direct vesical collection.

Care is particularly taken to appropriately store the blood/plasma and urine samples (liquid nitrogen, -80°C, -20°C, 4°C) and to add appropriate preservatives according the future use of these samples.

Tissue collections:

Various tissues can be harvested in freshly euthanized animals :
- central nervous system: brain, spinal cord
- cardiovascular / pulmonary system: heart, vessels, lungs
- urinary system: kidney, bladder, urethra, prostate
- sexual system: corpora cavernosa, seminal vesicle, vagina, clitoris, ...
- other systems: striated muscle, digestive tract, liver, …
Tissues can be prepared for in vitro, biochemical or histological purposes as follows :
- dissected at 4°C and mounted in organ bath chambers for reactivity studies (see in vitro organ baths functional experiments with animal tissues)
- snap frozen in liquid nitrogen for future homogeneization and biochemical determinations (see spectrophotometric assays and protein expression)
- embedded in paraffin or cryopreserving milieu (with or without preliminary fixation) for future histological studies (see histology and immunohistology)

Endpoints

Organ weighing and volume evaluation
Sample collection

NB: Pelvipharm will gladly study the feasibility of additional administration routes and modalities to meet its client’s needs.

Links to applicable Targeted disorders / Pathophysiological models

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