In Vivo Skills 1

Question 1

What does In Vivo mean?

Answer 1

• Performed or taking place in a living organism
• So rodents Or human trials etc

Question 2

What does Ex Vivo mean?

Answer 2

• That which takes place outside an organism
• E.g. organ bath experiments or brain slices

Question 3

What does In Vitro mean?

Answer 3

• Performed or taking place in a test tube, culture dish, or elsewhere outside a living organism

Question 4

What is the base requirement for choice of species to test?

(law)

Answer 4

• Under Uk legislation we must use the lowest sentient being to address the question

Question 5

Give examples of more simple organisms and some pros/cons.

Answer 5

• Drosophilia,c elegans and Zebra fish
• Cheaper and quick to breed
• Can be good for fundamental questions
• Less neurons can allow us to see things more clearly
• However can’t study complex functions

Question 6

Why are Mice and Rats used?

Answer 6

• Mammalian nervous system
• Mice more common for genetic models
• Rats adv when size needed or for behaviour tests

Question 7

When do larger mammals get used?

Answer 7

• Sometimes necessary when brain needs to be more similar to a human.
• E.g. sheep have a folded cortex

Question 8

What is a Naive Rodent?

Answer 8

• No changes to the nervous system
• Used to understand the normal functioning of the nervous system

Question 9

What are Model Rodents?

Answer 9

• A representation of something (e.g. a disease)
• Often idealised or modified to make it conceptually easier to undertsand

Question 10

How many criteria are needed to be thought about in producing a model?

Answer 10

3

Question 11

What are the 3 criteria genrally taking into account in producing a model?

Answer 11

• Predictive validity
• Face validity
• Construct Validity

Question 12

What is Predictive Validity?

Answer 12

• Behaviour, performance in the test predicts performance in the condition being modeled
• Does it walk and talk like a duck?

Question 13

What is Face validity?

Answer 13

• Neurobiology, Phenomenological similarity
• Is it similar to how the disease develops in humans
• Hopefully similar

Question 14

What is construct Validity?

Answer 14

• Mechanisms, theoretical rationale
• Is the mechanism for development the same e.g. input gen mutation
• If you know mutation then should be construct valid.

Question 15

Problems with Validity?
And solutions.

Answer 15

• Very hard to get all 3 validities, may have 1 or 2
  
  • Choose what’s most important to look at
  • Mechanism or symptoms or overall effect
  • E.g. may not show all symptoms of something but looking for a protein produced or not etc
  -Choose model based on what’s tested

Question 16

How are Rodent models created?

Answer 16

• Many ways depending on what is trying to be modelled
• Non-genetic methods
• Lesion brain areas (e.g. toxins, physical methods)
• Exposure to toxins or drugs
• Exposure to physical stimulus (e.g. pain, stress)
• Reducing blood flow to brain
• Genetic models
• Knock-out protein –to try to understand function, or role of
  protein in a process
• Introduce new or mutated protein

Question 17

DIagrams?

Answer 17

maybe

Question 18

How do Rodents model strokes?

Answer 18

• Rodents have similar vasculature to that of humans
• Large vessel occlusion is approximated with the middle cerebral artery occlusion
• 2 types of stroke-blocked or burst blood vessel
• Middle cerebral artery very commonly blocked
• Can block it with forceps etc or do an insertion
• With an insertion you can remove it to simulate blood clot.

Question 19

What is the animals act of 1986?

Answer 19

• Underlying Principle:
• Animals bred, supplied and used for scientific procedures are cared for in accordance with the best standards of modern animal husbandry.

Question 20

What is a procedure?

Answer 20

• Anything that might cause:
• Pain
• Distress
• Suffering
• Lasting harm
• (Anything that takes away from normal function and is governed under the legislation)

Question 21

What are the 3 Rs?

Answer 21

• Reduction, Refinement and replacement
• If you can do any of these things ^ instead of using animals you should.
• Should use minimum number of animals needed
• May need to use more than expected as better to answer question than waste lives on nothing
• If its possible to answer the question in another way then It is

Question 22

What is the Govts stance on animal research?

Answer 22

• We have legislated so experimentation is only permitted when there is no alternative research technique and the expected benefits outweigh any possible adverse effects.

Question 23

How are animal procedures licensed?

Answer 23

1.Certificate of designation(PCD)
-Authorises premises/establishment to do thing
2.AWERB
-Animal welfare and ethical review board
-Authorises need for project
3.Project licence (PPL)
-Authorises the need for project and each experimental technique
4.Personal Licence(PIL)
-Authorises the person conducting experiment.

No Research can be given a licence if there is a practical alternative to animal research.

Question 24

What is a project licence?

Answer 24

*Defines specific objectives
*Itemises the benefits
*Outlines the ‘Plan of Work’
*Details+justifiesthe experimental protocols
*Identifies the possible adverse effects
*Sets the severity limits for procedures and
the project

Question 25

What are the severity limits?

Answer 25

• Mild-little harm to animal-1 injection etc
• Sub-threshold-genetic animal and no observable difference
• Moderate-some transient change to animal for small period of time but will be mitigated-e.g the one side parkinsons
• Severe-Pain models, significant compromise to animal welfare

Severe is very often not given and can be given based on how few animals reach that threshold

Question 26

What is a personal licence?

Answer 26

• Personal Licence
  *Requires appropriate prior education
  (GCSE / A level / degree)
  *Training course
  Theoretical and practical skills taught and
  examined
  *Supervision from senior colleagues

Question 27

What is the AWERB?

Answer 27

*Certificate Holder (Chair)
*Director of the Biomedical Services Unit
*Named Veterinary Surgeon
*Academic members of staff with experience
of biomedical research involving animals
*Academic members of staff not involved in
biomedical research involving animals
*Lay Members

Question 28

What does an ethical review require?

Answer 28

*that all alternatives to the use of animals have been investigated before proposing the use of
animals for experimental research

*potential benefits of the research are justified against the likely cost to the animals; includes
justification of the choice of species and number of animals used

*all aspects of the care and use of animals follow accepted best practice guidelines

Question 29

How do Human studies work?

Answer 29

Human studies
* Analysis of existing data or specimen

Observational studies
* risk factors, natural history, variations in disease progression or
disease treatment

Interventional Studies
* Clinical trials

Still need ethical approval

Question 30

Clinical diagram picture.

Answer 30

vv

Question 31

How does research get approval?

Answer 31

All studies which will involve people as participants need a research
ethics committee (REC) review
* rights, safety, dignity and wellbeing

• Review done by lead researchers University or NHS, some research
  requires NHS REC approval (i.e. clinical trials of drugs)

Our Faculty’s Research Ethics committee
* For work on healthy volunteers only
*maintain ethical standards of practice in research
*protect subjects of research from harm
*preserve the subjects’ rights, welfare and dignity

Question 32

Ethical approval for human studies check list.

Answer 32

All risks associated with the study must be considered and a course of action to mitigate against
them stated

All groups that might take part identified as well as those that cannot

Why do you want to do the study?

What will it show?

When will it happen? How frequently for how long?

Where will it happen?

How will it happen?

What will you tell volunteers?

How will they acknowledge consent?

How will data will acquired, analysed and stored?

Statistics and sample size

In clinical trials –a lot more in-depth!

Question 33

MAybe stats stuff

Answer 33

??