Abstract
Juvenile Göttingen minipigs are a good model of early human development but relatively limited background data is currently available for these animals. We undertook a study to provide reference developmental data over the juvenile period from birth to age 16 weeks. This is the starting age generally used for allocation for regulatory toxicology studies.
In this study 24 Göttingen minipigs (12M+12F) were monitored for standard toxicology parameters from birth to 16 weeks. Piglets derived from 7 litters were housed with the sows until weaning at age of 4 weeks, and thereafter group housed (3/group). Clinical observations were recorded daily. Growth was monitored by weighing and measurement of crown-rump length. Blood and urine sampling were undertaken at ages 6, 8, 10, 12, 14 and 16 weeks for clinical pathology parameters including immune cell phenotyping by flow cytometry. Neurological examinations, opthalmoscopic and electro-cardiographic examinations were performed at 3, 7, 11 and 15 weeks
Clinical observations and neurological examination were indicative of the good health of the minipigs and no abnormalities were observed. We have previously reported marked changes in certain clinical pathology parameters with age. These changes were confirmed in the present study. These age-related changes reflect the normal physiology of a growing minipig. There were no notable findings at opthalmoscopic and ECG examination.
This study provides background data representative of normal growing Göttingen minipigs and useful information about its developing physiology. Our results confirm the importance of age-matched background data and provide valuable reference data for interpretation of juvenile toxicology studies.
