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Updated: Aug 6, 2026

Sampling Blood from the Lateral Tail Vein of the Rat
Published on: May 18, 2015
Abstract:
If micro-sampling techniques are used in conjunction with a highly sensitive radioimmunoassay procedure, it is possible to obtain repeated rapid measurements of plasma corticosterone concentrations from unanesthetized rats. Such a procedure reveals the existence of rapid corticosterone pulses with a duration of less than 60 s and amplitudes as great as 250 ng/ml. Several procedures were employed to determine that the pulses were not simply artifacts of the measurement and sampling methods. The existence of such rapid pulses provides for a duality of glucocorticoid function consisting of a rapid dynamic response capable of functioning simultaneously with, but independently of a slower long term regulatory response.
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