The in vivo effect of different bedding materials on the antioxidant levels of rat heart, lung and liver tissue

Abstract

Several experimental effects due to wood-derived bedding have been reported. Female Sprague Dawley rats were kept on pine shavings, eucalyptus pulp, vermiculite and in wire-bottomed cages without bedding for 14 days whereafter normal values for the antioxidants ascorbic acid and reduced glutathione (G-SH) in rat heart lung and liver tissue were determined and compared. Statistically significant differences were observed for lung G-SH between pine shavings and eucalyptus pulp (p < 0.0183), and heart G-SH between vermiculite and eucalyptus pulp (p < 0.0948). The highest levels of liver G-SH were obtained using pine shavings compared to vermiculite (p < 0,0001), eucalyptus pulp (p < 0.0002) and wire floor (p < 0.0001). Statistically significant differences in ascorbic acid concentrations could only be described between the wire-bottomed cages and eucalyptus pulp (p < 0.0333) for lung tissue and between pine shavings and eucalyptus pulp for liver tissue(p < 0.042). Although no statistically significant differences were observed in heart ascorbic acid levels between the different bedding applications, the concentration obtained using vermiculite was approximately 50 % higher than that observed with the other materials. Pine shavings, eucalyptus pulp and wire floors demonstrated virtually the same heart tissue ascorbic acid levels. It was thus demonstrated that bedding material can alter the tissue antioxidant concentration of laboratory animals, limiting the comparison of this type of result between institutions to those using identical environmental conditions.