The Effect of Anesthesia on Blood Pressure Measured Noninvasively by Using the Tail-Cuff Method in Marmosets (Callithrix jacchus)

In this study, we evaluated the validity of measuring blood pressure (BP) noninvasively in marmosets by using the tail-cuff method. The number of measurements needed for a valid reading was calculated by plotting the average SD of 5 consecutive readings in 10 naive marmosets; the SD for both systolic and diastolic BP readings plateaued after 4 readings. To evaluate how anesthesia (alphaxalone, 15 mg/kg IM) affected BP in marmosets, we measured 4 animals every minute for 60 min after injection. The average length of anesthesia was 47.3 +/- 13.2 min. The variability in the systolic and diastolic BP was the smallest at 10 to 30 min after injection (systolic SD, 6.29 mm Hg; diastolic SD, 5.27 mm Hg) and almost doubled at 30 to 60 min after injection (systolic SD, 13.5 mm Hg; diastolic SD, 12.3 mm Hg). The within- and between-session repeatability and reproducibility were calculated by measuring 12 marmosets twice at the same time of day (+/- 1 h) 1 wk apart. The coefficients of repeatability and reproducibility were 1.98% and 14.5% for systolic BP and 3.37% and 16.2% for diastolic BP, respectively. Our results indicate that using the volumetric tail-cuff method to measure BP noninvasively in anesthetized marmosets is safe and feasible. The measures are least variable within 10 to 30 min after the injection of anesthetic, and variability increases slightly between sessions.