Sequelae of Occult Aggression Disqualifying Young, Socially Housed, Female New Zealand White Rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) from Participation in Dermal Toxicology Studies.

International animal welfare organizations and federal, regional, and institutional oversight bodies encourage social housing of gregarious species, such as New Zealand white rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus), to promote animal wellbeing in research, teaching, testing and farming settings. At our institution, 2 groups of female New Zealand white rabbits (approximate age, 11 wk; mean weight, 2.35 kg), compatibly paired at the vendor for 5 wk, were paired in caging or group-housed in a floor pen. The rabbits appeared compatible, demonstrating primarily affiliative behaviors throughout 6 wk of daily observations. However, occult aggression that occurred between daily observations or nocturnally resulted in skin wounding. The skin injuries, first identified during prestudy clipping of fur from the back of each rabbit 6 wk after arrival, disqualified every animal from participation in skin toxicology and muscle implantation studies. Success meeting scientific research requirements while promoting animal welfare and health when socially housing New Zealand white rabbits requires examining the behavioral repertoire of their wild counterparts, European rabbits. Factors including age, sex, and housing density influence territoriality, dominance hierarchy, social ranking, and natural, agonistic, injurious, behavioral tendencies. IACUC and other relevant oversight bodies, researchers, and animal care staff should consider this case study and the species-specific natural history of New Zealand white rabbits when assessing the harm and benefit of social housing in regard to research utility and animal welfare.

A roadmap for academic health centers to establish good laboratory practice-compliant infrastructure.

Prior to human clinical trials, nonclinical safety and toxicology studies are required to demonstrate that a new product appears safe for human testing; these nonclinical studies are governed by good laboratory practice (GLP) regulations. As academic health centers (AHCs) embrace the charge to increase the translation of basic science research into clinical discoveries, researchers at these institutions increasingly will be conducting GLP-regulated nonclinical studies. Because the consequences for noncompliance are severe and many AHC researchers are unfamiliar with Food and Drug Administration regulations, the authors describe the regulatory requirements for conducting GLP research, including the strict documentation requirements, the necessary personnel training, the importance of study monitoring, and the critical role that compliance oversight plays in the process. They then explain the process that AHCs interested in conducting GLP studies should take before the start of their research program, including conducting a needs assessment and a gap analysis and selecting a model for GLP compliance. Finally, the authors identify and analyze several critical barriers to developing and implementing a GLP-compliant infrastructure at an AHC. Despite these challenges, the capacity to perform such research will help AHCs to build and maintain competitive research programs and to facilitate the successful translation of faculty-initiated research from nonclinical studies to first-in-human clinical trials.

Effects of housing density on nasal pathology of breeding mice housed in individually ventilated cages.

The 2011 edition of the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals includes new recommendations for the amount of floor space that should be provided to breeding mice. When pairs or trios of continuously breeding mice are housed in shoebox cages, they may have less than this recommended amount of floor space. High housing densities may adversely affect animal health, for example, by compromising air quality inside the cage. Hence, some institutions are carefully reevaluating the microenvironments of breeding cages. The use of individually ventilated cages (IVCs) to house research mice allows for greater control over the quality of the cage microenvironment. The authors evaluated the microenvironments of shoebox cages in an IVC rack system housing breeding and non-breeding Swiss Webster mice. Ammonia concentrations were significantly higher in cages housing breeding trios with two litters. Histopathologic lesions attributable to inhaled irritants such as ammonia were found in mice housed in breeding pairs and trios. The authors conclude that the microenvironments of cages in an IVC rack system housing breeding pairs and trios may be detrimental to animal health.