research animals Flashcards
what legal instrument mandates the use of animal ethic committees in QLD
the animals care and protection act 2001
animal research is tightly regulated by
laws, mandatory guidelines and strict codes of ethics
research proceeds under the direction of the
australian code for the care and use of animals for scientific purposes
what makes the australian code for the care and use of animals for scientific purposes LAW in qld
the animals care and protection act
animal research must be reviewed and approved by an
institutional animal ethics committee (AEC)
at UQ who administers the ethics committees and maintains the legal complaince
animal welfare unit
who physically looks after the animals and their housing/ welfare at UQ
university of queensland biological resources
every animal ethics commitee has a
vet as a member by law
what does AEC consist of
vets, scientists and members of public
3R’s
replace, reduce, refine
5 freedoms
- freedom from hunger and thirst
- freedom from discomfort
- freedom from pain injury and disease (often disease or injury is the research)
- freedom to express normal behaviour
- freedom from pain and distress
criticism; no major focus on pleasure of positive feelings
5 domains
- nutrition
- environment
- health
- behaviour
- mental domain
affective state
experience of feeling underlying emotional state
moods; longterm
emotions; shorterm
animal affective state
welfare includes both pleasurable and unpleasant mental states
negative: distress, suffering, thirst, pain, hunger etc
positive; comfort, pleasure, interest, satiety, general wellbeing, confidence, control
prey animals mask pain so what are signs of rodent pain and distress
- decreased activity
- abnormal postures
- changes in facial expression
- decreased grooming
- reduced nesting, eating, drinking
- teeth chattering
- isolation
mice see red as
black; so red cages and tunnels make them feel safe and we can still see them
reduce
- minimum number of animals per experiment
- avoid unnecessary duplication or repetition
consulting a statistician is often seen as essential
replace
use in vitro, computer models or lower lifeforms
refine
minimize pain and distress, increase wellbeing and minimize disturbance
spontaneous death
animal dies of injury, illness, disease or age in unassisted way
death as an endpoint
deliberate measure used for evaluating biological or chemical processes, responses or effects
investigator will NOT intervene to kill animal humanely before death occurs
humane killing
killing animal in humane way after or to facilitate its use by humans
ex slaughter
euthanasia
“good death” killing animal when death is in animals best interest due to welfare considerations
experimental endpoint
defined time in which experiment is done and data is complete; animal is either humanely killed or returned to flock/ sold/ released
humane endpoint
welfare threshold where animals welfare is at a point where euth will be performed
some criteria for immediate euth in research
- weight loss
- BCS
- can’t move
- can’t access food/water
- tumors
- dehydration
- laboured breather
- trauma
- bleeding cannot be stopped
- post op complications
etc
criteria for humane killing and euth
- method appropriate
- reliable, reproducible and irreversible
- minimal restrain applied
- rapid loss of consciousness before death
- avoids distress and excitement
humane intervention points
set of predetermined criteria that define the point at which humane intervention must be implemented
could be things such as treatment, cease experiment until animal recovers, remove animal from study, increase frequency of observation or euthanize
what agency licenses pharmaceutical products in aus
therapeutic goods administration (TGA)
term for an animal model of disease for which no human analogue exists
orphan model
basic vs applied vs clinical research
- basic; advancing fundamental knowledge, computer models and lower organisms
- applied; use of existing knowledge to solve specific biomedical problem, animal models of all types (non human animals)
- clinical research; builds on ^, live animals, trials on animals (pre-clinical) and humans (clinical) to test new treatment and procedures
animal model
living, non human animal used during research for purpose of better understanding of disease or normal biology
induced (experimental) models
healthy animals which have the condition to be studied experimentally induced
spontaneous ( genetic, mutant) models
models where disease naturally occurs due to genetic mutations or naturally occurring disease
genetically modified models (GEMMs)
models which are deliberately genetically manipulated to insert, remove, mutate or replace genes in order to study the gene’s function or exhibit other useful traits
negative models
control animals (don’t have disease) useful for validating results
orphan models
disease has no human equivalent and occur only in species studied
3 types of disease models
1) homologous; animals have same causes, symptoms and treatment options as would humans who have the same disease
2) isomorphic; animals share same symptoms and treatments
3) predictive models; similar to human disease in only a couple of aspects but useful in isolating and making predictions about mechanisms of set of disease features
comparative medical research
one animal species used as a model to study diseases and treatments for benefit of humans of vet species
translational research
applies findings from biomedical research to translate findings of fundamental research into medical practice and meaningful health outcomes like new meds, procedures, or tests
most widely used mammalian organism in biomedical research
mice
mice advantages
- high fecundity
- short generation time
- short lifespan
- genetic manipulation options
- well characterized inbred and outbred strains
- similar genetics and physiology to humans
- sequenced genome
- huge body of pre-existing science
mice disadvantages
- too small
- spontaneous disease
- bio of some disease differs significantly from human so poor translation
what is most commonly used preclinical toxicology model for pharmaceutical safety assessment and development in the world
rats
why are rats preferred over mice for drug testing
larger, docile and inability to vomit
is rodent testing mandatory for all agencies
yes; except for biologics which don’t cross react to rodents
rat advantages
- high fecundity
- short generation time
- short lifespan
- docile
- cheap
- characterized strains
- similar genetics and physiology to humans
- larger than mice
- models of choice for drug development and safety testing
rat disadvantages
- more diffcult to genetically manipulate than mice
- fewer regants available for research
- larger than mice; more expenisve
- spontaneous disease
- bio of some disease differs significantly from human so poor translation
It is mandatory that both rodent and non-rodent models are used to test each
drug (except biologics)
what is non rodent species of choice
dogs
dog advanatges
- trained, easy to handle
- large size
- similar genetic and physiology to humans
- sequenced genome
- spontaneous disease
- good ethical reasons
dog disadvanatges
- may be strong ethical objection due to bond
- reagents to study limited
- expensive
what is the group of animal of choice for biologic drugs (antibody and related molecules)
primates because immune system and proteins similar to humans
primate advanatges
- v close related to humans
- gold standard for biologic pharmaceutical, medical device and surgical technique development
primate disadvantages
- ethical objections
- high cost
- complicated housing
- ecological impact; many threatened
- zoonotic disease
- may die from common human diseases
best ethical choice of animal models
lower animals and simple organisms
lower organisms advantages
- high fecundity
- short generation time
- short lifespan
- small, cheap
- genetic manipulation
- sequenced genome
- few ethical objections
lower organisms disadvantages
- bio os some may be too different from humans to show good translation or comparative results
