Biology subjects

Bergadano, A.

Publications and source records attributed to Bergadano, A..

2 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2023

An adaptable, user-friendly score sheet to monitor welfare in experimental fish

Fish are increasingly used as experimental animals across research fields. Currently, a quarter of all experimental animals used in Europe are fish. Less than 20% of these are standard model species. Welfare assessments for experimental fish are in their infancy compared to rodents. This can be attributed to the diversity of species used, the relative recency of fish as go-to model for research, and challenges to assess welfare and pain in non-vocal underwater species. The lack of guidelines and tools presents a challenge for researchers (particularly, for newcomers), for ethics committees, and for implementing refinement measures. Here, we present an adaptable, user-friendly score sheet for fish. The parameters contained in the excel tool are based on a literature review, have been validated by expert interviews, and evaluated by a fish pathologist. The tool allows to score individuals as well as groups, calculates summary scores and visualizes trends. We provide the underlying literature, give use examples and provide instructions on the adaptation and use of the score sheet. We hope that this tool will empower researchers to include welfare assessment in their routines, foster discussions on fish welfare parameters among scientists, facilitate interactions with ethics committees, and most importantly, enable the refinement of fish experiments.

animal behavior and cognition↗

bioRxiv2022

Wet Adhesive Hydrogels to Correct Malacic Trachea (Tracheomalacia): A Proof of Concept

Tracheomalacia (TM) is a condition in which the anterior part of the trachea consisting of cartilage and/or the posterior part consisting muscle are too soft to ensure its mechanical support. This situation may result in an excessive and potentially lethal collapse of the airway in the newborns. Current treatment techniques include tracheal reconstruction, tracheoplasty, endo- and extraluminal stents, but are all facing important limitations. To reduce the shortcomings of actual TM treatments, this work proposes a new strategy by wrapping an adhesive hydrogel patch extraluminally around a malacic trachea. To validate this approach, first a numerical model revealed that a hydrogel patch with sufficient mechanical and adhesion strength can potentially preserve the tracheas physiological shape. Accordingly, a new hydrogel formulation was synthesized employing the hydroxyethyl acrylamide (HEAam) and polyethylene glycol methacrylate (PEGDMA) as main polymer network and crosslinker, respectively. These hydrogels provide excellent adhesion on wet tracheal surfaces, thanks to a two-step photo-polymerization approach. Ex vivo experiments revealed that the developed adhesive hydrogel patches can restrain the collapsing of malacic trachea under applied negative pressure. This study, to be confirmed by in vivo studies, is open to the possibility of a new treatment in the difficult clinical situation of tracheomalacia in newborns.

bioengineering↗