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3 Minute 3Rs podcast: February 2023 transcript

Assessing enrichment, consolidating animal research guidance and understanding mouse aggression

Papers behind the pod:

  1. Hobbiesiefken U et al. (2023). Rating enrichment items by female group-housed laboratory mice in multiple binary choice tests using an RFID-based tracking system. PloS one 18(1): e0278709. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0278709
  2. Petkov C et al. (2022). Unified ethical principles and an animal research ‘Helsinki’ declaration as foundations for international collaboration. Current Research in Neurobiology 3:100060. doi: 10.1016/j.crneur.2022.100060
  3. Weber E et al. (2023). Aggression in Group-Housed Male Mice: A Systematic Review. Animals 13(1):143. doi: 10.3390/ani13010143

[NC3Rs]

It’s the third Thursday of February and you’re listening to the final episode of 3 minute 3Rs, recapping the latest efforts to replace, reduce and refine the use of animals in research. Let’s start off with a refinement and how to tell which enrichment items mice prefer best.

Enrichment items for laboratory-housed mice are now commercially available, diverse, and relatively inexpensive. But how do we know which items are having a positive impact on animal welfare?

In their recent paper, Hobbiesiefken et al., from the German Center for the Protection of Laboratory Animals, posit that preference tests are the only way to be sure. Their bespoke Mouse Position Surveillance System was used to test the preference of group-housed, female mice for a range of enrichment items.

Of the 12 items tested, the lattice ball, hemp rope and second level of wood proved to be most popular with the mice. However, strong evidence of divergent individual preference, even among animals from the same social group, suggests that a multifaceted approach to enrichment is necessary. The authors offer an “easy-to-use” method to help labs choose the best enrichment items for their mice.

To find out more, follow the link in the description.

Next, an effort to look at consolidating animal research guidance globally.

[NA3RsC]

In this podcast, we’ve focused on the 3Rs as the core ethical framework to guide animal research. However, over the years, several other sets of principles and frameworks have been proposed. 

A recent publication by international authors reviewed and consolidated these various principles into a unified framework. They propose that the 3Ss, 4Fs, and Basel Declaration on Animal Research be combined into a preamble. The 3Ss are Good Science, Sense, and Sensibility which refer to doing good science with the appropriate model and ensuring culture of care. The 4Fs or Fundamental Principles highlight that animal research is an important privilege to generate new knowledge, improve well-being, and ensure that any human medical research is justified. 

The authors then propose that the 3Rs are a classical core that stands the test of time but can be enhanced by the 6Ps and 3Vs. The 6Ps expand on the 3Rs with 6 principles to balance social benefit and animal welfare while explicitly guiding a harm-benefit analysis. The 3Vs then expand on what an appropriate animal model is by outlining construct, internal, and external validity. 

To learn more about these unified ethical principles for animal research, read the full paper online.

[NC3Rs]

And finally, a systematic review exploring male mouse aggression.

[Lab Animal]

Aggression among group-housed male mice is a serious animal welfare concern in the laboratory. Given that mice are the most commonly used mammalian research model, identifying factors that can prevent or minimize aggression could benefit a large number of animals. 

In a new article, Elin Weber and colleagues conducted a systematic review to explore how aggression among group-housed male mice is affected by different variables such as environmental enrichment, mouse strain, age, housing conditions, group formation and time spent in groups. In most cases, it was not possible to single out a clear effect of a specific treatment, due to the many interacting factors influencing the outcome. The authors were able to provide a few recommendations though based on their findings such as the use of hiding devices and using C57BL/6 and BALB/c mouse strains that show low prevalence of aggression. 

To learn more about this study, read the full paper in Animals.    

[NC3Rs]

That’s it for 3 Minute 3Rs, after 5 years and 180 papers we are hanging up our mics. But don’t worry, all our previous episodes will remain online. So from  Lab Animal, the North American 3Rs Collaborative, and the NC3Rs, thank you for listening.