A new congenital cleft palate New Zealand rabbit model for surgical research

Haoyue Liu,Chenghao Li,Bing Shi,Xiaoming Wang,Qian Zheng,Chialing Tsauo,Lingling Pu

doi:10.1038/s41598-021-83400-z

Haoyue Liu, Chenghao Li + Show 5 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-83400-z

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Abstract

Cleft palate repair is a challenging procedure for cleft surgeons to teach, and in research, it can be difficult to evaluate different techniques and develop new treatments. In this study, a congenital cleft palate New Zealand rabbit model has been described and could be beneficial in future studies concerning cleft palate repair. Pregnant New Zealand rabbits received 1.0 mg dexamethasone injection intramuscularly once a day from the 13th gestation day (GD13) to GD16. On GD31. Newborn rabbits were delivered by cesarean sections, fed with a standardized gastric tube feeding method, and divided into two groups. The rate of survival and the incidence of cleft palate was calculated. Weight, appearance, behavior, maxillary occlusal view, and regional anatomic and histological comparisons were recorded within 1 month after birth. Infants from the two groups with similar physiological conditions were selected for continuous maxillofacial and mandibular Micro-CT scan and three-dimensional reconstruction analysis. Ten pregnant rabbits gave birth to 48 live infants. The survival and cleft palate rates were 65.6% and 60.4% respectively. Both groups survived over 1 month with no difference in weight, appearance, and behavior. The cleft type was stable, and anatomical defects, histological characteristics, and nasal-maxillary abnormalities of the cleft were similar to those of humans. There was no statistically significant difference in maxillary and mandible development between the two groups within one month after birth. This congenital cleft palate model is considered to have more research possibilities with efficient cleft induction, reliable feeding methods, stable anatomical defects, and maxillofacial development similar to those seen in humans.

Highlights

Cleft palate repair is a challenging procedure for cleft surgeons to teach, and in research, it can be difficult to evaluate different techniques and develop new treatments, especially treatment outcome evaluations
We evaluated the use of dexamethasone-induced New Zealand rabbits as experimental models for congenital cleft palate
Every infant rabbit was identified as having a cleft palate or a normal palate and randomly assigned into one of two groups respectively, the cleft palate group (CP) and the control group (C), and each group contained 10 infant rabbits

Summary

Introduction

Cleft palate repair is a challenging procedure for cleft surgeons to teach, and in research, it can be difficult to evaluate different techniques and develop new treatments, especially treatment outcome evaluations. The animal models applied in the study of cleft palate are divided into two types: (1) those induced by surgical operation, and (2) congenital cleft. We evaluated the use of dexamethasone-induced New Zealand rabbits as experimental models for congenital cleft palate. At the early stage of palatal shelf development, Walker injected several kinds of glucocorticoids into pregnant New Zealand rabbits for four consecutive d ays[13] He found that the incidence of dexamethasone-induced cleft palate in the offspring was dose-dependent, but he did not build a new congenital cleft palate model for surgical research. We utilized New Zealand rabbits to develop a new congenital cleft palate model by using the phenotype Walker discovered. We believe this is an appropriate model that could benefit surgical research of cleft palate treatments

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