Radiotelemetry measurement of heart rate, blood pressure and locomotory activity of rats in physiological experiment

Abstract

Evaluation of physiological traits in freely moving animals represents an innovative approach allowing physiological studies in undisturbed animals without interference with handling and stress. This approach is important in behavioural sciences and research on physiological basis of cardiovascular diseases. Recently, there is only one such system in the world that enables simultaneous measurement of blood pressure, heart rate, body temperature and electroencephalography together with the locomotory activity which was developed by the Data Sciences International (St. Paul, Minessota, USA). In our laboratory we have introduced and validated this system in laboratory rats and hereby present results on blood pressure, heart rate and locomotory activity in rats exposed to stabile light – dark cycles.