In Ovo MRI and MRS of the Turkey Embryo

Jrgen Baudewig¹, Kristin Ktz¹, Denis Schewe², Susann Boretius¹

Increasing awareness in animal protection creates a significant demand for alternatives to conventional animal experiments. Here, we wanted to evaluate the potential of MRI and MRS methods to study anatomical and metabolic changes of living turkey embryos in ovo. Immobilizations by cooling and by isoflurane anesthesia were compared concerning effects on motion artifacts and on brain metabolites. 10 min of ice-cooling allowed for almost motion-artifact-free MRI and MRS without any detectable impairment of viability. Moreover, as shown on the example of ethanol, localized proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy may be used in this model to obtain neurochemical profiles.