The reporting of clinical signs in laboratory animals

Abstract

Observing and reporting clinical signs in laboratory animals is necessary for many reasons: the assessment of animal welfare, compliance with the principle of refinement (e.g. humane endpoints), regulatory compliance (e.g. reporting severity) and, importantly, as a scientific outcome, e.g. in animal models of disease or safety studies. Developments in the reporting of clinical signs will enhance the scientific value gained from animal experiments and further address the ethical cost. This paper discusses systematic approaches to the observation and reporting of clinical signs in animals (to be) used for research. Glossaries from public and corporate institutions have been consulted and a reference glossary has been set up, providing terminology to be tailored for institutional or project-specific use. The clinical examination of animals must be carried out by competent and specifically trained staff in a systematic way and repeated at adequate intervals and clinical observations must be registered effectively to allow this information to be used. The development of institutional or project-specific glossaries and the use of handwritten records or automated databases are discussed in detail. Among the users are animal care staff, veterinarians and researchers who will need to agree on a given set of clinical signs to be monitored routinely or as a scientific read-out and to train for the proper application. The paper introduces a long list of clinical signs with scientific terminology, descriptions and explanations as a reference glossary to be published and maintained online as a living document supported by the authors as an editorial committee.

Humane endpoint in mice by Brazilian researchers in the vaccine sector

“…Some signs and alterations in certain studies may be relevant criteria for the worsening of health conditions leading up to death, but for these estimates to be informative, the research team must collect and analyse data using standardised, precise measurements (Scharmann, 1999;Morton, 2005). None of the researchers reported the use of score tables, a recommended tool for the monitoring of clinical signs in animals (Fentener et al, 2015). ., v.71, n.2, p.500-508 I meet the term of the challenging tasks, which is relevant to my researches.…”

“…All 22 participants that reported the use of HE were asked about the frequency in which followup assessments of mice were held after a challenging task. As recommended (Fentener et al, 2015), eight researchers (33.36%) reported that the animals were checked twice a day, which reduces the possibility of missing any changes besides the facility to monitor for sudden deterioration in the animal's health, which allows for the application of HE at the most suitable moment. Nine researchers (40.91%) answered that the animals were checked once a day, which may be a frequency adequate for experiments with animals that do not show significant changes within a 24-hour period.…”

“…In order to properly monitor and apply HE, it is important that the person doing so is proficient in the identification of clinical and behavioral changes in the animal model. For that, they must know the biology and the normal behavior of the species subject to trial (Fentener et al, 2015;Hau, 1999).…”

El 1, 2, 3 de la experimentación con animales de laboratorio

“…Cada país debe legislar el correcto cuidado y uso de los animales de experimentación y asegurar que gocen de las cinco libertades y las 3R (8) . Para garantizar que la reglamentación sea la adecuada no solo se deben tomar en cuenta las normas de la legislación nacional, sino también las recomendaciones de organismos y asociaciones internacionales dedicadas a la ciencia de animales de laboratorio como: International Council of Laboratory Animal Science (ICLAS); Institute of Laboratory Animal Resources (ILAR); Universities Federation of Animal Welfare (UFAW); American Association for Laboratory Animal Science (AALAS); Interagency Research Animal Committee (IRAC); Animal Welfare Regulations (AWRs); Federación de Sociedades Sudamericanas de Ciencias en Animales de Laboratorio (FESSACAL) y Federation of European Laboratory Animal Science Associations (FELASA).…”

Talking welfare: the importance of a common language

“…It should be recognised that the Mouse Welfare Terms are positioned to aid technical and scientific staff in communicating the observations they make in a clear and reproducible manner. Other initiatives such as the FELASA Working Group on Assessing Clinical Signs in Laboratory Animals ( 2015 ) aim to standardise clinical observations using veterinary terms. These efforts are complementary in enhancing clear communication to support animal welfare.…”