At the American College of Toxicology’s annual meeting this week, Charles River Laboratories presented a poster on the extraordinary patency they achieved during a large infusion toxicology study in rats.

CRL’s Ashland Ohio site had a study design that required a short IV dose at 86 and 149 days. Flushing only every other week and locking with heparinized saline, CRL kept 94% of the rats’ femoral vein catheters patent for both sampling and infusion throughout the five-month study.

CRL used Instech Vascular Access Buttons™ with round tip polyurethane catheters. The rats were only connected to a pump with a tether for dosing; for the rest of the time they were socially housed. One group also had telemetry implants.

For details download the poster