title: Concurrent measurement of respiratory and metabolic parameters in rats during exposure to a test vapor: respiratory stress test.
abstract: A 75-liter plexiglas chamber has been constructed to simultaneously expose ten rats to a test vapor. Each rat is confined in a small plexiglas plethysmographic box attached to the large chamber. During exposure, the respiration rate, tidal volume, and body temperature are measured. In addition, anaerobic blood samples may be removed through an indwelling catheter in the caudal artery. This sample may be used to measure the amount of a volatile test chemical reaching the blood or to measure blood pCO2, pO2, and pH. This method optimizes animal usage by permitting many sequential measurements on a minimum number of test animals. Since the animals are exposed simultaneously, the interanimal variations in exposure are minimized. Data obtained with this method are reported for rats undergoing a respiratory stress sequence that includes hypoxia and hypercapnia.
mesh_terms: D000336:Aerosols; D000818:Animals; D001784:Blood Gas Analysis; D001831:Body Temperature / Q000187:drug effects*; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D007700:Kinetics; D010991:Plethysmography / Q000295:instrumentation; D051381:Rats; D012129:Respiratory Function Tests / Q000295:instrumentation; D013990:Tidal Volume; D014118:Toxins, Biological / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D000336:Aerosols; D014118:Toxins, Biological