Can anyone share experience with blood pressure recordings in rats through tail artery using PE-50 tubing and disposable bp transducer (AD Instruments) connected to a fluid-filled system? How do you overcome tube clogging problem besides flushing it with heparinized saline? What is the quality of recordings? What is the most effective concentration of heparin in IU/ml?
Thank you!
We have not done this in rats, but in mice and compared it with an invasive blood pressure system and I have to say that the readings were very similar. Hence I think if you avoid stress and habituate animals, I think its a good system. I hope that the paper where we describe this will be published soon;)
I think this article can help you
you can look this video: http://www.jove.com/video/3496/femoral-arterial-venous-catheterization-for-blood-sampling-drug
I have not done tail catheterizing, however I've done lots of femoral and carotid catheterization in rats and mice . the most important part in procedure are :
- do not make knot too tight ( I found in most case causing clotting in tube)
- make sure flush line after inserting tube in vessel and during surgery.
I hope this help.
Thank you for the answers! I figured it out myself. I haven't had any issues with knot being too tight though. Heparin concentration of 50 IU/ml does the job perfectly and control for the air bubbles should be paranoic since even the smallest ones can damp the readings significantly. I would say - the first thing to look for if you have a bad reading by using a fluid-filled system is air bubbles.
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