Successful Male Rabbit Whole Kidney Decellularization For Tissue Engineering

Background Renal transplantation represents the only cure for end stage renal disease. Shortage of donated organs, immune compatibility and post-transplantation complications urges the search for another radical and revolutionary treatment . Whole kidney decellularization is a promising technique, hopefully offering a threedimensional natural kidney scaffold for engineering a patient’s compatible kidney after recellularization with patient’s own cells. The current study aimed at successfully decellularizing the male rabbit kidney while preserving the histological profile of the kidney decellularized extracellular matrix. Materials and Methods Kidneys of ten male New Zealand White Rabbits weighing (1000- 1500 gm) were harvested and sorted into two groups. Control Group I included the ten right kidneys. Decellularization Group II included the ten left kidneys; harvested carefully and kept frozen until decellularization. They were decellularized using 0.5% sodium dodecyl sulfate for 5-6 hours. Kidneys from both groups were processed similarly for histological examination. Results Decellularized kidney Scaffolds showed complete removal of cellular materials. Meanwhile, the structural profile of the decellularized kidney scaffolds was apparently well preserved. Conclusion The current study yielded an efficient decellularization of male rabbit kidney paving the way for future kidney recellularization.

Study of copulatory behaviour in old male rabbits

<p>Male rabbit sexual behaviour consists of a single mount followed immediately by ejaculation. In young bucks this pattern changes gradually as they reach sexual satiety in a day and sexual exhaustion after several daily tests. Little is known about the characteristics of sexual behaviour in old rabbits (aged 48-54 mo) within a day and across daily tests leading to sexual exhaustion. By using sexually receptive(young) females, changed within a session to maximise copulation, we found that: a) the inter-ejaculatory interval increased between the first and last days of testing; b) test duration was 3.1 h on day 1 and 0.5 h on day 15; c) the “miss rate” (i.e., mounts not accompanied by ejaculation) significantly increased from the first to the last day of testing, regardless of when this occurred in each individual buck; d) the total number of ejaculations displayed in a session significantly decreased between the first and the last day of testing in all males; e) scent-marking (“chinning”) frequency significantly decreased after copulation to satiety, relative to that quantified at baseline, and was restored the following day. Compared with young bucks our results indicate quantitative, rather than qualitative, differences in sexual behaviour associated with age in rabbits. Specifically, on day 1 old bucks spent a shorter time engaged in copulation and displayed a lower number of ejaculations before reaching satiety than young males. In contrast, the interval between ejaculatory events and the “miss rate” increased across test days in both old and young rabbits. These results merit investigating the neuroendocrine mechanisms underlying the display of such an active sexual behaviour by old rabbit bucks.</p>

PERFORMANCE OF RABBITS FED LEUCAENA LEUCOCEPHALA AND AND CONCENTRATR BETWEEN 9TH AND 25TH WEEKS OF AGE.

Fourteen fryer male rabbit (New Zealand white and chinchilla breeds) were used for the experiment. Equal numbers of rabbits from the two breeds were used for each treatment. The rabbits were randomly Leucaena leucocephala respectively. The rabbit in the two groups were given the same amount of pelleted concentrates from a commercial feed miller and were fed to determine the effect of level of leucaena offered/intake on the growth rate of rabbits. Four fryers which were fed the same % of concentrates and Aspilia africana served as the control. Growth rate decreased at the beginning of the study followed by satisfactory growth thereafter. The control animals had a higher growth rate compared to the other two groups (P<0.05. Alopecia and decreased appetite were the initial symptoms of mimosine toxicity observed, but they were soon overcome with time. Rabbits can tolerate up to 100g leucaena in their diet in addition to pelleted concentrate.