The Piglet as Biomedical Model: Physiological Investigations, New Techniques and Future Applications

By the analysis of the literature, it looks like the strive for new piglets’ models of disease have prevaricated the necessity for a deeper knowledge of the physiology of the animal. It is well known how difficult it is to interpret obtained data when poor to none reference standards are provided and how hard it is to apply techniques borrowed from other models, no matter how similar they can look. The aim of the present work was to collect knowledge and information regarding the piglets by studying its physiology and to validating new techniques. The experiments can be divided into two categories: physiological investigations and new techniques and future applications. Blood and Cerebrospinal fluid were analyzed in a quali-quantitative manner in piglets. The studies, thanks to the extensive statistical analyses and the high number of sampled population, provide with important reference intervals that will allow for better understanding of several metabolic processes. For the second category, technical experiments aimed to find easier and relatively pain free procedures for the collection of Cerebrospinal fluid and intrathecal administration in piglets, were performed. Operators’ skills often are a limiting factor for the feasibility of experimental protocols, and easier techniques are the best way to break down these walls. Moreover, when leading to lower mortality and higher welfare, those techniques allow for better results and higher ethical standards. The last experiment aimed to create a comprehensive map of CNS transduction upon intrathecal administration of Adeno-Associated Viral vector in piglets, and to evaluate their potential toxicity. The obtained result will help choosing the right serotype depending on the targeted cell population, thus avoiding preliminary studies reducing the number of enrolled animals. In conclusion, this thesis represents an additional step toward the standardization of the physiological piglet model and its refinement and reduction in experimental protocols.