title: Head-out plethysmography in safety pharmacology assessment.
abstract: The importance of the ability to accurately evaluate respiratory function in animals has been underscored by the classification of the respiratory system as a vital organ system by regulatory agencies in the United States, the European Union, and Japan. A comprehensive assessment of respiratory function should include an evaluation of ventilatory function, including rate and volume measurements, overall pulmonary ventilation (i.e., minute volume), and lung function, including resistance to lung airflow. A volume-displacement, head-out, plethysmograph chamber is widely considered the most accurate method for measuring respiratory flows and volumes in small animals because it allows direct assessment of both volume and rate as well as resistance to lung airflow, a predictor of airway constriction or obstruction. Direct assessment of airway resistance is important because mild to moderate increases are generally not detected as changes in ventilatory patterns. This unit describes a method for evaluating ventilatory and lung function in conscious rats.
authors.affiliation: GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals, King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, USA.
authors.forename: Jonathan P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Renninger
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002138:Calibration; D003625:Data Collection; D004353:Drug Evaluation, Preclinical / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D010991:Plethysmography / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012129:Respiratory Function Tests / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D012140:Respiratory Tract Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000517:prevention & control; D013048:Specimen Handling