Category: Animal research

Studies have shown that oral gavage can significantly increase physiological stress in research animals, with measurements of elevated corticosterone, heart rate, and blood pressure. These profound responses represent one of the primary disadvantages of oral gavage that can compromise the validity of scientific experiments.

According to research published by the National Institutes of Health, precise control of feeding variables is crucial for understanding metabolic disorders. This is where the technique of paired feeding comes into play, a rigorous research method used to ensure that any observed physiological differences between animal groups are due to the experimental variable and not simply a difference in caloric intake.