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Streiff C, Herrera A, Voelkl B, Palme R, Würbel H, Novak J. The impact of cage dividers on mouse aggression, dominance and hormone levels. PLoS One 2024; 19:e0297358. [PMID: 38324564 PMCID: PMC10849263 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0297358] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2023] [Accepted: 01/02/2024] [Indexed: 02/09/2024] Open
Abstract
Home cage aggression in group-housed male mice is a major welfare concern and may compromise animal research. Conventional cages prevent flight or retreat from sight, increasing the risk that agonistic encounters will result in injury. Moreover, depending on social rank, mice vary in their phenotype, and these effects seem highly variable and dependent on the social context. Interventions that reduce aggression, therefore, may reduce not only injuries and stress, but also variability between cage mates. Here we housed male mice (Balb/c and SWISS, group sizes of three and five) with or without partial cage dividers for two months. Mice were inspected for wounding weekly and home cages were recorded during housing and after 6h isolation housing, to assess aggression and assign individual social ranks. Fecal boli and fur were collected to quantify steroid levels. We found no evidence that the provision of cage dividers improves the welfare of group housed male mice; The prevalence of injuries and steroid levels was similar between the two housing conditions and aggression was reduced only in Balb/c strain. However, mice housed with cage dividers developed less despotic hierarchies and had more stable social ranks. We also found a relationship between hormone levels and social rank depending on housing type. Therefore, addition of cage dividers may play a role in stabilizing social ranks and modulating the activation of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) and hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axes, thus reducing phenotypic variability between mice of different ranks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christina Streiff
- Animal Welfare Division, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Adrian Herrera
- Animal Welfare Division, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Bernhard Voelkl
- Animal Welfare Division, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Rupert Palme
- Unit of Physiology, Pathophysiology, and Experimental Endocrinology, Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Austria
| | - Hanno Würbel
- Animal Welfare Division, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Janja Novak
- Animal Welfare Division, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
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2
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Jaric I, Voelkl B, Amrein I, Wolfer DP, Novak J, Detotto C, Weber-Stadlbauer U, Meyer U, Manuella F, Mansuy IM, Würbel H. Using mice from different breeding sites fails to improve replicability of results from single-laboratory studies. Lab Anim (NY) 2024; 53:18-22. [PMID: 38151528 PMCID: PMC10766513 DOI: 10.1038/s41684-023-01307-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/04/2023] [Accepted: 11/20/2023] [Indexed: 12/29/2023]
Abstract
Theoretical and empirical evidence indicates that low external validity due to rigorous standardization of study populations is a cause of poor replicability in animal research. Here we report a multi-laboratory study aimed at investigating whether heterogenization of study populations by using animals from different breeding sites increases the replicability of results from single-laboratory studies. We used male C57BL/6J mice from six different breeding sites to test a standardized against a heterogenized (HET) study design in six independent replicate test laboratories. For the standardized design, each laboratory ordered mice from a single breeding site (each laboratory from a different one), while for the HET design, each laboratory ordered proportionate numbers of mice from the five remaining breeding sites. To test our hypothesis, we assessed 14 outcome variables, including body weight, behavioral measures obtained from a single session on an elevated plus maze, and clinical blood parameters. Both breeding site and test laboratory affected variation in outcome variables, but the effect of test laboratory was more pronounced for most outcome variables. Moreover, heterogenization of study populations by breeding site (HET) did not reduce variation in outcome variables between test laboratories, which was most likely due to the fact that breeding site had only little effect on variation in outcome variables, thereby limiting the scope for HET to reduce between-lab variation. We conclude that heterogenization of study populations by breeding site has limited capacity for improving the replicability of results from single-laboratory animal studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ivana Jaric
- Animal Welfare Division, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
| | - Bernhard Voelkl
- Animal Welfare Division, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Irmgard Amrein
- Institute of Anatomy, Division of Functional Neuroanatomy, University of Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - David P Wolfer
- Institute of Anatomy, Division of Functional Neuroanatomy, University of Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland
- Department of Health Sciences and Technology, ETH Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Janja Novak
- Animal Welfare Division, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Carlotta Detotto
- Central Animal Facilities, Experimental Animal Center, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Ulrike Weber-Stadlbauer
- Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Vetsuisse Faculty and Center of Neuroscience Zürich, University of Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Urs Meyer
- Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Vetsuisse Faculty and Center of Neuroscience Zürich, University of Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Francesca Manuella
- Laboratory of Neuroepigenetics, Brain Research Institute, Medical Faculty, University of Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland
- Institute for Neuroscience, Department of Health Science and Technology, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zürich (ETHZ), Zurich, Switzerland
- Center for Neuroscience Zürich, University Zürich and ETHZ, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Isabelle M Mansuy
- Laboratory of Neuroepigenetics, Brain Research Institute, Medical Faculty, University of Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland
- Institute for Neuroscience, Department of Health Science and Technology, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zürich (ETHZ), Zurich, Switzerland
- Center for Neuroscience Zürich, University Zürich and ETHZ, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Hanno Würbel
- Animal Welfare Division, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
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3
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Dalla C, Jaric I, Pavlidi P, Hodes GE, Kokras N, Bespalov A, Kas MJ, Steckler T, Kabbaj M, Würbel H, Marrocco J, Tollkuhn J, Shansky R, Bangasser D, Becker JB, McCarthy M, Ferland-Beckham C. Practical solutions for including sex as a biological variable (SABV) in preclinical neuropsychopharmacological research. J Neurosci Methods 2024; 401:110003. [PMID: 37918446 PMCID: PMC10842858 DOI: 10.1016/j.jneumeth.2023.110003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/29/2023] [Revised: 10/13/2023] [Accepted: 10/27/2023] [Indexed: 11/04/2023]
Abstract
Recently, many funding agencies have released guidelines on the importance of considering sex as a biological variable (SABV) as an experimental factor, aiming to address sex differences and avoid possible sex biases to enhance the reproducibility and translational relevance of preclinical research. In neuroscience and pharmacology, the female sex is often omitted from experimental designs, with researchers generalizing male-driven outcomes to both sexes, risking a biased or limited understanding of disease mechanisms and thus potentially ineffective therapeutics. Herein, we describe key methodological aspects that should be considered when sex is factored into in vitro and in vivo experiments and provide practical knowledge for researchers to incorporate SABV into preclinical research. Both age and sex significantly influence biological and behavioral processes due to critical changes at different timepoints of development for males and females and due to hormonal fluctuations across the rodent lifespan. We show that including both sexes does not require larger sample sizes, and even if sex is included as an independent variable in the study design, a moderate increase in sample size is sufficient. Moreover, the importance of tracking hormone levels in both sexes and the differentiation between sex differences and sex-related strategy in behaviors are explained. Finally, the lack of robust data on how biological sex influences the pharmacokinetic (PK), pharmacodynamic (PD), or toxicological effects of various preclinically administered drugs to animals due to the exclusion of female animals is discussed, and methodological strategies to enhance the rigor and translational relevance of preclinical research are proposed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christina Dalla
- Department of Pharmacology, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece.
| | - Ivana Jaric
- Animal Welfare Division, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Pavlina Pavlidi
- Department of Pharmacology, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece
| | - Georgia E Hodes
- School of Neuroscience, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24060, USA
| | - Nikolaos Kokras
- Department of Pharmacology, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece; First Department of Psychiatry, Eginition Hospital, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece
| | - Anton Bespalov
- Partnership for Assessment and Accreditation of Scientific Practice (PAASP GmbH), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Martien J Kas
- Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen, the Netherlands
| | | | - Mohamed Kabbaj
- Department of Biomedical Sciences & Neurosciences, College of Medicine, Florida State University, USA
| | - Hanno Würbel
- Animal Welfare Division, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Jordan Marrocco
- Department of Biology, Touro University, New York, NY 10027, USA
| | | | - Rebecca Shansky
- Department of Psychology, Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02128, USA
| | - Debra Bangasser
- Neuroscience Institute, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA 30303, USA; Center for Behavioral Neuroscience, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA 30303, USA
| | - Jill B Becker
- Department of Psychology and Michigan Neuroscience Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Margaret McCarthy
- University of Maryland School of Medicine, Department of Pharmacology, Baltimore MD, USA
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Thomann B, Würbel H, Kuntzer T, Umstätter C, Wechsler B, Meylan M, Schüpbach-Regula G. Development of a data-driven method for assessing health and welfare in the most common livestock species in Switzerland: The Smart Animal Health project. Front Vet Sci 2023; 10:1125806. [PMID: 37056235 PMCID: PMC10086233 DOI: 10.3389/fvets.2023.1125806] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2022] [Accepted: 02/28/2023] [Indexed: 03/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Improving animal health and welfare in livestock systems depends on reliable proxies for assessment and monitoring. The aim of this project was to develop a novel method that relies on animal-based indicators and data-driven metrics for assessing health and welfare at farm level for the most common livestock species in Switzerland. Method development followed a uniform multi-stage process for each species. Scientific literature was systematically reviewed to identify potential health and welfare indicators for cattle, sheep, goats, pigs and poultry. Suitable indicators were applied in the field and compared with outcomes of the Welfare Quality® scores of a given farm. To identify farms at risk for violations of animal welfare regulations, several agricultural and animal health databases were interconnected and various supervised machine-learning techniques were applied to model the status of farms. Literature reviews identified a variety of indicators, some of which are well established, while others lack reliability or practicability, or still need further validation. Data quality and availability strongly varied among animal species, with most data available for dairy cows and pigs. Data-based indicators were almost exclusively limited to the categories “Animal health” and “Husbandry and feeding”. The assessment of “Appropriate behavior” and “Freedom from pain, suffering, harm and anxiety” depended largely on indicators that had to be assessed and monitored on-farm. The different machine-learning techniques used to identify farms for risk-based animal welfare inspections reached similar classification performances with sensitivities above 80%. Features with the highest predictive weights were: Participation in federal ecological and animal welfare programs, farm demographics and farmers' notification discipline for animal movements. A common method with individual sets of indicators for each species was developed. The results show that, depending on data availability for the individual animal categories, models based on proxy data can achieve high correlations with animal health and welfare assessed on-farm. Nevertheless, for sufficient validity, a combination of data-based indicators and on-farm assessments is currently required. For a broad implementation of the methods, alternatives to extensive manual on-farm assessments are needed, whereby smart farming technologies have great potential to support the assessment if the specific monitoring goals are defined.
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Affiliation(s)
- Beat Thomann
- Veterinary Public Health Institute, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
- *Correspondence: Beat Thomann
| | - Hanno Würbel
- Animal Welfare Division, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | | | - Christina Umstätter
- Research Division on Competitiveness and System Evaluation, Agroscope, Ettenhausen, Switzerland
- Thünen Institute of Agricultural Technology, Braunschweig, Germany
| | - Beat Wechsler
- Centre for Proper Housing of Ruminants and Pigs, Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office, Agroscope, Ettenhausen, Switzerland
| | - Mireille Meylan
- Clinic for Ruminants, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
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5
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Novak J, Jaric I, Rosso M, Rufener R, Touma C, Würbel H. Handling method affects measures of anxiety, but not chronic stress in mice. Sci Rep 2022; 12:20938. [PMID: 36463282 PMCID: PMC9719500 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-25090-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/03/2022] [Accepted: 11/24/2022] [Indexed: 12/07/2022] Open
Abstract
Studies in mice have shown that less aversive handling methods (e.g. tunnel or cup handling) can reduce behavioural measures of anxiety in comparison to picking mice up by their tail. Despite such evidence, tail handling continues to be used routinely. Besides resistance to change accustomed procedures, this may also be due to the fact that current evidence in support of less aversive handling is mostly restricted to effects of extensive daily handling, which may not apply to routine husbandry practices. The aim of our study was to assess whether, and to what extent, different handling methods during routine husbandry induce differences in behavioural and physiological measures of stress in laboratory mice. To put the effects of handling method in perspective with chronic stress, we compared handling methods to a validated paradigm of unpredictable chronic mild stress (UCMS). We housed mice of two strains (Balb/c and C57BL/6) and both sexes either under standard laboratory conditions (CTRL) or under UCMS. Half of the animals from each housing condition were tail handled and half were tunnel handled twice per week, once during a cage change and once for a routine health check. We found strain dependent effects of handling method on behavioural measures of anxiety: tunnel handled Balb/c mice interacted with the handler more than tail handled conspecifics, and tunnel handled CTRL mice showed increased open arm exploration in the elevated plus-maze. Mice undergoing UCMS showed increased plasma corticosterone levels and reduced sucrose preference. However, we found no effect of handling method on these stress-associated measures. Our results therefore indicate that routine tail handling can affect behavioural measures of anxiety, but may not be a significant source of chronic husbandry stress. Our results also highlight strain dependent responses to handling methods.
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Affiliation(s)
- Janja Novak
- grid.5734.50000 0001 0726 5157Animal Welfare Division, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Ivana Jaric
- grid.5734.50000 0001 0726 5157Animal Welfare Division, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Marianna Rosso
- grid.5734.50000 0001 0726 5157Animal Welfare Division, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Reto Rufener
- grid.5734.50000 0001 0726 5157Department of Infectious Diseases and Pathobiology, Vetsuisse Faculty, Institute of Parasitology, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Chadi Touma
- grid.10854.380000 0001 0672 4366Department of Behavioural Biology, Osnabrück University, Osnabrück, Germany
| | - Hanno Würbel
- grid.5734.50000 0001 0726 5157Animal Welfare Division, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
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Rosso M, Wirz R, Loretan AV, Sutter NA, Pereira da Cunha CT, Jaric I, Würbel H, Voelkl B. Reliability of common mouse behavioural tests of anxiety: A systematic review and meta-analysis on the effects of anxiolytics. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2022; 143:104928. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2022.104928] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/11/2021] [Revised: 10/24/2022] [Accepted: 10/24/2022] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
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Arroyo-Araujo M, Voelkl B, Laloux C, Novak J, Koopmans B, Waldron AM, Seiffert I, Stirling H, Aulehner K, Janhunen SK, Ramboz S, Potschka H, Holappa J, Fine T, Loos M, Boulanger B, Würbel H, Kas MJ. Systematic assessment of the replicability and generalizability of preclinical findings: Impact of protocol harmonization across laboratory sites. PLoS Biol 2022; 20:e3001886. [PMID: 36417471 PMCID: PMC9728859 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3001886] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2022] [Revised: 12/07/2022] [Accepted: 10/24/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
The influence of protocol standardization between laboratories on their replicability of preclinical results has not been addressed in a systematic way. While standardization is considered good research practice as a means to control for undesired external noise (i.e., highly variable results), some reports suggest that standardized protocols may lead to idiosyncratic results, thus undermining replicability. Through the EQIPD consortium, a multi-lab collaboration between academic and industry partners, we aimed to elucidate parameters that impact the replicability of preclinical animal studies. To this end, 3 experimental protocols were implemented across 7 laboratories. The replicability of results was determined using the distance travelled in an open field after administration of pharmacological compounds known to modulate locomotor activity (MK-801, diazepam, and clozapine) in C57BL/6 mice as a worked example. The goal was to determine whether harmonization of study protocols across laboratories improves the replicability of the results and whether replicability can be further improved by systematic variation (heterogenization) of 2 environmental factors (time of testing and light intensity during testing) within laboratories. Protocols were tested in 3 consecutive stages and differed in the extent of harmonization across laboratories and standardization within laboratories: stage 1, minimally aligned across sites (local protocol); stage 2, fully aligned across sites (harmonized protocol) with and without systematic variation (standardized and heterogenized cohort); and stage 3, fully aligned across sites (standardized protocol) with a different compound. All protocols resulted in consistent treatment effects across laboratories, which were also replicated within laboratories across the different stages. Harmonization of protocols across laboratories reduced between-lab variability substantially compared to each lab using their local protocol. In contrast, the environmental factors chosen to introduce systematic variation within laboratories did not affect the behavioral outcome. Therefore, heterogenization did not reduce between-lab variability further compared to the harmonization of the standardized protocol. Altogether, these findings demonstrate that subtle variations between lab-specific study protocols may introduce variation across independent replicate studies even after protocol harmonization and that systematic heterogenization of environmental factors may not be sufficient to account for such between-lab variation. Differences in replicability of results within and between laboratories highlight the ubiquity of study-specific variation due to between-lab variability, the importance of transparent and fine-grained reporting of methodologies and research protocols, and the importance of independent study replication.
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Affiliation(s)
- María Arroyo-Araujo
- Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands
| | - Bernhard Voelkl
- Animal Welfare Division, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | | | - Janja Novak
- Animal Welfare Division, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | | | - Ann-Marie Waldron
- Institute of Pharmacology, Toxicology, and Pharmacy, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet Muenchen, Muenchen, Germany
| | - Isabel Seiffert
- Institute of Pharmacology, Toxicology, and Pharmacy, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet Muenchen, Muenchen, Germany
| | - Helen Stirling
- Institute of Pharmacology, Toxicology, and Pharmacy, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet Muenchen, Muenchen, Germany
| | - Katharina Aulehner
- Institute of Pharmacology, Toxicology, and Pharmacy, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet Muenchen, Muenchen, Germany
| | | | - Sylvie Ramboz
- PsychoGenics Inc., New Jersey, Paramus, United States of America
| | - Heidrun Potschka
- Institute of Pharmacology, Toxicology, and Pharmacy, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet Muenchen, Muenchen, Germany
| | | | | | - Maarten Loos
- Sylics (Synaptologics BV), Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | | | - Hanno Würbel
- Animal Welfare Division, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Martien J. Kas
- Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands
- * E-mail:
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Jaric I, Voelkl B, Clerc M, Schmid MW, Novak J, Rosso M, Rufener R, von Kortzfleisch VT, Richter SH, Buettner M, Bleich A, Amrein I, Wolfer DP, Touma C, Sunagawa S, Würbel H. The rearing environment persistently modulates mouse phenotypes from the molecular to the behavioural level. PLoS Biol 2022; 20:e3001837. [PMID: 36269766 PMCID: PMC9629646 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3001837] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2022] [Revised: 11/02/2022] [Accepted: 09/20/2022] [Indexed: 11/07/2022] Open
Abstract
The phenotype of an organism results from its genotype and the influence of the environment throughout development. Even when using animals of the same genotype, independent studies may test animals of different phenotypes, resulting in poor replicability due to genotype-by-environment interactions. Thus, genetically defined strains of mice may respond differently to experimental treatments depending on their rearing environment. However, the extent of such phenotypic plasticity and its implications for the replicability of research findings have remained unknown. Here, we examined the extent to which common environmental differences between animal facilities modulate the phenotype of genetically homogeneous (inbred) mice. We conducted a comprehensive multicentre study, whereby inbred C57BL/6J mice from a single breeding cohort were allocated to and reared in 5 different animal facilities throughout early life and adolescence, before being transported to a single test laboratory. We found persistent effects of the rearing facility on the composition and heterogeneity of the gut microbial community. These effects were paralleled by persistent differences in body weight and in the behavioural phenotype of the mice. Furthermore, we show that environmental variation among animal facilities is strong enough to influence epigenetic patterns in neurons at the level of chromatin organisation. We detected changes in chromatin organisation in the regulatory regions of genes involved in nucleosome assembly, neuronal differentiation, synaptic plasticity, and regulation of behaviour. Our findings demonstrate that common environmental differences between animal facilities may produce facility-specific phenotypes, from the molecular to the behavioural level. Furthermore, they highlight an important limitation of inferences from single-laboratory studies and thus argue that study designs should take environmental background into account to increase the robustness and replicability of findings. The phenotype of an organism results not only from its genotype but also the influence of its environment throughout development. This study shows that common environmental differences between animal facilities can induce substantial variation in the phenotype of mice, thereby highlighting an important limitation of inferences from single-laboratory studies in animal research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ivana Jaric
- Animal Welfare Division, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
- * E-mail: (IJ); (HW)
| | - Bernhard Voelkl
- Animal Welfare Division, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Melanie Clerc
- Department of Biology, Institute of Microbiology and Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, ETH Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland
| | | | - Janja Novak
- Animal Welfare Division, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Marianna Rosso
- Animal Welfare Division, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Reto Rufener
- Department of Oncology-Pathology, Karolinska Institutet, Solna, Sweden
| | | | - S. Helene Richter
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Manuela Buettner
- Institute for Laboratory Animal Science and Central Animal Facility, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany
| | - André Bleich
- Institute for Laboratory Animal Science and Central Animal Facility, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany
| | - Irmgard Amrein
- Institute of Anatomy, Division of Functional Neuroanatomy, University of Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland; Department of Health Sciences and Technology, ETH Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - David P. Wolfer
- Institute of Anatomy, Division of Functional Neuroanatomy, University of Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland; Department of Health Sciences and Technology, ETH Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Chadi Touma
- Department of Behavioural Biology, Osnabrück University, Osnabrück, Germany
| | - Shinichi Sunagawa
- Department of Biology, Institute of Microbiology and Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, ETH Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Hanno Würbel
- Animal Welfare Division, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
- * E-mail: (IJ); (HW)
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Bremhorst A, Mills DS, Würbel H, Riemer S. Evaluating the accuracy of facial expressions as emotion indicators across contexts in dogs. Anim Cogn 2021; 25:121-136. [PMID: 34338869 PMCID: PMC8904359 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-021-01532-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/15/2021] [Revised: 07/01/2021] [Accepted: 07/07/2021] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Facial expressions potentially serve as indicators of animal emotions if they are consistently present across situations that (likely) elicit the same emotional state. In a previous study, we used the Dog Facial Action Coding System (DogFACS) to identify facial expressions in dogs associated with conditions presumably eliciting positive anticipation (expectation of a food reward) and frustration (prevention of access to the food). Our first aim here was to identify facial expressions of positive anticipation and frustration in dogs that are context-independent (and thus have potential as emotion indicators) and to distinguish them from expressions that are reward-specific (and thus might relate to a motivational state associated with the expected reward). Therefore, we tested a new sample of 28 dogs with a similar set-up designed to induce positive anticipation (positive condition) and frustration (negative condition) in two reward contexts: food and toys. The previous results were replicated: Ears adductor was associated with the positive condition and Ears flattener, Blink, Lips part, Jaw drop, and Nose lick with the negative condition. Four additional facial actions were also more common in the negative condition. All actions except the Upper lip raiser were independent of reward type. Our second aim was to assess basic measures of diagnostic accuracy for the potential emotion indicators. Ears flattener and Ears downward had relatively high sensitivity but low specificity, whereas the opposite was the case for the other negative correlates. Ears adductor had excellent specificity but low sensitivity. If the identified facial expressions were to be used individually as diagnostic indicators, none would allow consistent correct classifications of the associated emotion. Diagnostic accuracy measures are an essential feature for validity assessments of potential indicators of animal emotion.
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Affiliation(s)
- A Bremhorst
- Division of Animal Welfare, DCR-VPHI, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, 3012, Bern, Switzerland.
- School of Life Sciences, University of Lincoln, Lincoln, LN6 7DL, UK.
- Graduate School for Cellular and Biomedical Sciences (GCB), University of Bern, 3012, Bern, Switzerland.
| | - D S Mills
- School of Life Sciences, University of Lincoln, Lincoln, LN6 7DL, UK
| | - H Würbel
- Division of Animal Welfare, DCR-VPHI, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, 3012, Bern, Switzerland
| | - S Riemer
- Division of Animal Welfare, DCR-VPHI, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, 3012, Bern, Switzerland
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Abstract
Reproducibility in biomedical research, and more specifically in preclinical animal research, has been seriously questioned. Several cases of spectacular failures to replicate findings published in the primary scientific literature have led to a perceived reproducibility crisis. Diverse threats to reproducibility have been proposed, including lack of scientific rigour, low statistical power, publication bias, analytical flexibility and fraud. An important aspect that is generally overlooked is the lack of external validity caused by rigorous standardization of both the animals and the environment. Here, we argue that a reaction norm approach to phenotypic variation, acknowledging gene-by-environment interactions, can help us seeing reproducibility of animal experiments in a new light. We illustrate how dominating environmental effects can affect inference and effect size estimates of studies and how elimination of dominant factors through standardization affects the nature of the expected phenotype variation through the reaction norms of small effect. Finally, we discuss the consequences of reaction norms of small effect for statistical analysis, specifically for random effect latent variable models and the random lab model.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bernhard Voelkl
- Animal Welfare Division, University of Bern, Laenggassstrasse 120, 3012, Bern, Switzerland.
| | - Hanno Würbel
- Animal Welfare Division, University of Bern, Laenggassstrasse 120, 3012, Bern, Switzerland
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11
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Eggel M, Würbel H. Internal consistency and compatibility of the 3Rs and 3Vs principles for project evaluation of animal research. Lab Anim 2021; 55:233-243. [PMID: 33215575 PMCID: PMC8182293 DOI: 10.1177/0023677220968583] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/25/2020] [Accepted: 10/04/2020] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
Using animals for research raises ethical concerns that are addressed in project evaluation by weighing expected harm to animals against expected benefit to society. A harm-benefit analysis (HBA) relies on two preconditions: (a) the study protocol is scientifically suitable and (b) the use of (sentient) animals and harm imposed on them are necessary for achieving the study's aims. The 3Rs (Replace, Reduce and Refine) provide a guiding principle for evaluating whether the use of animals, their number and the harm imposed on them are necessary. A similar guiding principle for evaluating whether a study protocol is scientifically suitable has recently been proposed: the 3Vs principle referring to the three main aspects of scientific validity in animal research (construct, internal and external validity). Here, we analyse the internal consistency and compatibility of these two principles, address conflicts within and between the 3Rs and 3Vs principles and discuss their implications for project evaluation. We show that a few conflicts and trade-offs exist, but that these can be resolved either by appropriate study designs or by ethical deliberation in the HBA. In combination, the 3Vs, 3Rs and the HBA thus offer a coherent framework for a logically structured evaluation procedure to decide about the legitimacy of animal research projects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthias Eggel
- Institute for Biomedical Ethics and History of
Medicine, University of Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Hanno Würbel
- Animal Welfare Division, Veterinary Public Health
Institute University of Bern, Switzerland
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12
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Affiliation(s)
- Bernhard Voelkl
- Veterinary Public Health Institute, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Hanno Würbel
- Veterinary Public Health Institute, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Martin Krzywinski
- Canada's Michael Smith Genome Sciences Centre, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
| | - Naomi Altman
- Department of Statistics, The Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA, USA
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13
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Bremhorst A, Mills DS, Stolzlechner L, Würbel H, Riemer S. 'Puppy Dog Eyes' Are Associated With Eye Movements, Not Communication. Front Psychol 2021; 12:568935. [PMID: 33679505 PMCID: PMC7925631 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.568935] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/02/2020] [Accepted: 01/13/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The inner brow raiser is a muscle movement that increases the size of the orbital cavity, leading to the appearance of so-called 'puppy dog eyes'. In domestic dogs, this expression was suggested to be enhanced by artificial selection and to play an important role in the dog-human relationship. Production of the inner brow raiser has been shown to be sensitive to the attentive stance of a human, suggesting a possible communicative function. However, it has not yet been examined whether it is sensitive to human presence. In the current study, we aimed to test whether the inner brow raiser differs depending on the presence or absence of an observer. We used two versions of a paradigm in an equivalent experimental setting in which dogs were trained to expect a reward; however, the presence/absence of a person in the test apparatus was varied. In the social context, a human facing the dog delivered the reward; in the non-social context, reward delivery was automatized. If the inner brow raiser has a communicative function and dogs adjust its expression to an audience, we expect it to be shown more frequently in the social context (when facing a person in the apparatus) than in the non-social context (when facing the apparatus without a person inside). The frequency of the inner brow raiser differed between the two contexts, but contrary to the prediction, it was shown more frequently in the non-social context. We further demonstrate that the inner brow raiser is strongly associated with eye movements and occurs independently in only 6% of cases. This result challenges the hypothesis that the inner brow raiser has a communicative function in dog-human interactions and suggests a lower-level explanation for its production, namely an association with eye movements.
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Affiliation(s)
- Annika Bremhorst
- Division of Animal Welfare, DCR-VPHI, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.,School of Life Sciences, University of Lincoln, Lincoln, United Kingdom.,Graduate School for Cellular and Biomedical Sciences (GCB), University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Daniel S Mills
- School of Life Sciences, University of Lincoln, Lincoln, United Kingdom
| | - Lisa Stolzlechner
- Department of Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Hanno Würbel
- Division of Animal Welfare, DCR-VPHI, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Stefanie Riemer
- Division of Animal Welfare, DCR-VPHI, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
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14
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Varholick JA, Bailoo JD, Jenkins A, Voelkl B, Würbel H. A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of the Relationship Between Social Dominance Status and Common Behavioral Phenotypes in Male Laboratory Mice. Front Behav Neurosci 2021; 14:624036. [PMID: 33551768 PMCID: PMC7855301 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2020.624036] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2020] [Accepted: 12/15/2020] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Background: Social dominance status (e.g., dominant or subordinate) is often associated with individual differences in behavior and physiology but is largely neglected in experimental designs and statistical analysis plans in biomedical animal research. In fact, the extent to which social dominance status affects common experimental outcomes is virtually unknown. Given the pervasive use of laboratory mice and culminating evidence of issues with reproducibility, understanding the role of social dominance status on common behavioral measures used in research may be of paramount importance. Methods: To determine whether social dominance status—one facet of the social environment—contributes in a systematic way to standard measures of behavior in biomedical science, we conducted a systematic review of the existing literature searching the databases of PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science. Experiments were divided into several domains of behavior: exploration, anxiety, learned helplessness, cognition, social, and sensory behavior. Meta-analyses between experiments were conducted for the open field, elevated plus-maze, and Porsolt forced swim test. Results: Of the 696 publications identified, a total of 55 experiments from 20 published studies met our pre-specified criteria. Study characteristics and reported results were highly heterogeneous across studies. A systematic review and meta-analyses, where possible, with these studies revealed little evidence for systematic phenotypic differences between dominant and subordinate male mice. Conclusion: This finding contradicts the notion that social dominance status impacts behavior in significant ways, although the lack of an observed relationship may be attributable to study heterogeneity concerning strain, group-size, age, housing and husbandry conditions, and dominance assessment method. Therefore, further research considering these secondary sources of variation may be necessary to determine if social dominance generally impacts treatment effects in substantive ways.
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Affiliation(s)
- Justin A Varholick
- Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States.,Division of Animal Welfare, Veterinary Public Health Institute, Universität Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Jeremy D Bailoo
- Division of Animal Welfare, Veterinary Public Health Institute, Universität Bern, Bern, Switzerland.,Department of Cell Biology and Biochemistry, School of Medicine, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Lubbock, TX, United States.,Department of Civil, Environmental, and Construction Engineering, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, United States
| | - Ashley Jenkins
- Department of Biology, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States
| | - Bernhard Voelkl
- Division of Animal Welfare, Veterinary Public Health Institute, Universität Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Hanno Würbel
- Division of Animal Welfare, Veterinary Public Health Institute, Universität Bern, Bern, Switzerland
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15
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Gebhardt-Henrich SG, Jordan A, Toscano MJ, Würbel H. The effect of perches and aviary tiers on the mating behaviour of two hybrids of broiler breeders. Appl Anim Behav Sci 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.applanim.2020.105145] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
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16
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Percie du Sert N, Hurst V, Ahluwalia A, Alam S, Avey MT, Baker M, Browne WJ, Clark A, Cuthill IC, Dirnagl U, Emerson M, Garner P, Holgate ST, Howells DW, Karp NA, Lazic SE, Lidster K, MacCallum CJ, Macleod M, Pearl EJ, Petersen OH, Rawle F, Reynolds P, Rooney K, Sena ES, Silberberg SD, Steckler T, Würbel H. The ARRIVE guidelines 2.0: Updated guidelines for reporting animal research. J Cereb Blood Flow Metab 2020; 40:1769-1777. [PMID: 32663096 PMCID: PMC7430098 DOI: 10.1177/0271678x20943823] [Citation(s) in RCA: 499] [Impact Index Per Article: 124.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2020] [Accepted: 06/30/2020] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
Abstract
Reproducible science requires transparent reporting. The ARRIVE guidelines (Animal Research: Reporting of In Vivo Experiments) were originally developed in 2010 to improve the reporting of animal research. They consist of a checklist of information to include in publications describing in vivo experiments to enable others to scrutinise the work adequately, evaluate its methodological rigour, and reproduce the methods and results. Despite considerable levels of endorsement by funders and journals over the years, adherence to the guidelines has been inconsistent, and the anticipated improvements in the quality of reporting in animal research publications have not been achieved. Here, we introduce ARRIVE 2.0. The guidelines have been updated and information reorganised to facilitate their use in practice. We used a Delphi exercise to prioritise and divide the items of the guidelines into 2 sets, the "ARRIVE Essential 10," which constitutes the minimum requirement, and the "Recommended Set," which describes the research context. This division facilitates improved reporting of animal research by supporting a stepwise approach to implementation. This helps journal editors and reviewers verify that the most important items are being reported in manuscripts. We have also developed the accompanying Explanation and Elaboration document, which serves (1) to explain the rationale behind each item in the guidelines, (2) to clarify key concepts, and (3) to provide illustrative examples. We aim, through these changes, to help ensure that researchers, reviewers, and journal editors are better equipped to improve the rigour and transparency of the scientific process and thus reproducibility.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Viki Hurst
- Science Manager – Experimental Design and Reporting, NC3Rs, London, United Kingdom
| | - Amrita Ahluwalia
- Professor of Vascular Pharmacology, Co-Director, The William Harvey Research Institute, London, United Kingdom
- Director of the Barts Cardiovascular CTU, Queen Mary University of London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Sabina Alam
- Director of Publishing Ethics and Integrity, Taylor & Francis Group, London, United Kingdom
| | - Marc T. Avey
- Lead Health Scientist, Health Science Practice, ICF, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America
| | - Monya Baker
- Senior Editor, Opinion, Nature, San Francisco, California, United States of America
| | - William J. Browne
- Professor of Statistics, School of Education, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom
| | - Alejandra Clark
- Senior Editor, Team Manager – Life Sciences, PLOS ONE, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Innes C. Cuthill
- Professor of Behavioural Ecology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom
| | - Ulrich Dirnagl
- Director, QUEST Center for Transforming Biomedical Research, Berlin Institute of Health & Department of Experimental Neurology, Charite Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Michael Emerson
- Reader in Platelet Pharmacology, National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Paul Garner
- Professor, and Director of the Centre for Evidence Synthesis in Global Health, Clinical Sciences Department, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, United Kingdom
| | - Stephen T. Holgate
- MRC Clinical Professor, Clinical and Experimental Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom
| | - David W. Howells
- Professor of Neuroscience and Brain Plasticity, Tasmanian School of Medicine, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Australia
| | - Natasha A. Karp
- Principal Scientist – Statistician & UK Team Lead, Data Sciences & Quantitative Biology, Discovery Sciences, R&D, AstraZeneca, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | | | - Katie Lidster
- Programme Manager – Animal Welfare, NC3Rs, London, United Kingdom
| | | | - Malcolm Macleod
- Professor of Neurology and Translational Neuroscience, Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
- Academic Lead for Research Improvement and Research Integrity, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
| | - Esther J. Pearl
- Programme Manager – Experimental Design, NC3Rs, London, United Kingdom
| | - Ole H. Petersen
- Director of the Academia Europaea Knowledge Hub, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom
| | - Frances Rawle
- Director of Policy, Ethics and Governance, Medical Research Council, London, United Kingdom
| | - Penny Reynolds
- Biostatistician, Statistics in Anesthesiology Research (STAR) Core & Research Assistant Professor, Department of Anesthesiology College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America
| | - Kieron Rooney
- Associate Professor, Discipline of Exercise and Sport Science, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
| | - Emily S. Sena
- Stroke Association Kirby Laing Foundation Senior Non-Clinical Lecturer, Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
| | - Shai D. Silberberg
- Director of Research Quality, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America
| | - Thomas Steckler
- Associate Director, BRQC Animal Welfare Strategy Lead, Janssen Pharmaceutica NV, Beerse, Belgium
| | - Hanno Würbel
- Professor for Animal Welfare, Veterinary Public Health Institute, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
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17
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Percie du Sert N, Hurst V, Ahluwalia A, Alam S, Avey MT, Baker M, Browne WJ, Clark A, Cuthill IC, Dirnagl U, Emerson M, Garner P, Holgate ST, Howells DW, Karp NA, Lazic SE, Lidster K, MacCallum CJ, Macleod M, Pearl EJ, Petersen OH, Rawle F, Reynolds P, Rooney K, Sena ES, Silberberg SD, Steckler T, Würbel H. The ARRIVE guidelines 2.0: updated guidelines for reporting animal research. J Physiol 2020; 598:3793-3801. [PMID: 32666574 PMCID: PMC7610696 DOI: 10.1113/jp280389] [Citation(s) in RCA: 165] [Impact Index Per Article: 41.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2020] [Accepted: 06/23/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Reproducible science requires transparent reporting. The ARRIVE guidelines (Animal Research: Reporting of In Vivo Experiments) were originally developed in 2010 to improve the reporting of animal research. They consist of a checklist of information to include in publications describing in vivo experiments to enable others to scrutinise the work adequately, evaluate its methodological rigour, and reproduce the methods and results. Despite considerable levels of endorsement by funders and journals over the years, adherence to the guidelines has been inconsistent, and the anticipated improvements in the quality of reporting in animal research publications have not been achieved. Here, we introduce ARRIVE 2.0. The guidelines have been updated and information reorganised to facilitate their use in practice. We used a Delphi exercise to prioritise and divide the items of the guidelines into 2 sets, the 'ARRIVE Essential 10,' which constitutes the minimum requirement, and the 'Recommended Set,' which describes the research context. This division facilitates improved reporting of animal research by supporting a stepwise approach to implementation. This helps journal editors and reviewers verify that the most important items are being reported in manuscripts. We have also developed the accompanying Explanation and Elaboration document, which serves (1) to explain the rationale behind each item in the guidelines, (2) to clarify key concepts, and (3) to provide illustrative examples. We aim, through these changes, to help ensure that researchers, reviewers, and journal editors are better equipped to improve the rigour and transparency of the scientific process and thus reproducibility.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Viki Hurst
- Science Manager – Experimental Design and Reporting, NC3Rs, London, United Kingdom
| | - Amrita Ahluwalia
- Professor of Vascular Pharmacology, Co-Director, The William Harvey Research Institute, London, United Kingdom
- Director of the Barts Cardiovascular CTU, Queen Mary University of London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Sabina Alam
- Director of Publishing Ethics and Integrity, Taylor & Francis Group, London, United Kingdom
| | - Marc T. Avey
- Lead Health Scientist, Health Science Practice, ICF, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America
| | - Monya Baker
- Senior Editor, Opinion, Nature, San Francisco, California, United States of America
| | - William J. Browne
- Professor of Statistics, School of Education, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom
| | - Alejandra Clark
- Senior Editor, Team Manager – Life Sciences, PLOS ONE, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Innes C. Cuthill
- Professor of Behavioural Ecology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom
| | - Ulrich Dirnagl
- Director, QUEST Center for Transforming Biomedical Research, Berlin Institute of Health & Department of Experimental Neurology, Charite Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Michael Emerson
- Reader in Platelet Pharmacology, National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Paul Garner
- Professor, and Director of the Centre for Evidence Synthesis in Global Health, Clinical Sciences Department, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicin Liverpool, United Kingdom
| | - Stephen T. Holgate
- MRC Clinical Professor, Clinical and Experimental Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom
| | - David W. Howells
- Professor of Neuroscience and Brain Plasticity, Tasmanian School of Medicine, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Australia
| | - Natasha A. Karp
- Principal Scientist– Statistician & UK Team Lead, Data Sciences & Quantitative Biology, Discovery Sciences, R&D, AstraZeneca, Cambridge, Unite Kingdom
| | | | - Katie Lidster
- Programme Manager – Animal Welfare, NC3Rs, London, United Kingdom
| | | | - Malcolm Macleod
- Professor of Neurology and Translational Neuroscience, Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
- Academic Lead for Research Improvement and Research Integrity, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
| | - Esther J. Pearl
- Programme Manager – Experimental Design, NC3Rs, London, United Kingdom
| | - Ole H. Petersen
- Director of the Academia Europaea Knowledge Hub, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom
| | - Frances Rawle
- Director of Policy, Ethics and Governance, Medical Research Council, London, United Kingdom
| | - Penny Reynolds
- Biostatistician, Statistics in Anesthesiology Research (STAR) Core & Research Assistant Professor, Department of Anesthesiology College of Medicin University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America
| | - Kieron Rooney
- Associate Professor, Discipline of Exercise and Sport Science, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
| | - Emily S. Sena
- Stroke Association Kirby Laing Foundation Senior Non-Clinical Lecturer, Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburg United Kingdom
| | - Shai D. Silberberg
- Director of Research Quality, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America
| | - Thomas Steckler
- Associate Director, BRQC Animal Welfare Strategy Lead, Janssen Pharmaceutica NV, Beerse, Belgium
| | - Hanno Würbel
- Professor for Animal Welfare, Veterinary Public Health Institute, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
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18
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Percie du Sert N, Hurst V, Ahluwalia A, Alam S, Avey MT, Baker M, Browne WJ, Clark A, Cuthill IC, Dirnagl U, Emerson M, Garner P, Holgate ST, Howells DW, Karp NA, Lazic SE, Lidster K, MacCallum CJ, Macleod M, Pearl EJ, Petersen OH, Rawle F, Reynolds P, Rooney K, Sena ES, Silberberg SD, Steckler T, Würbel H. The ARRIVE guidelines 2.0: Updated guidelines for reporting animal research. Exp Physiol 2020; 105:1459-1466. [PMID: 32666546 PMCID: PMC7610926 DOI: 10.1113/ep088870] [Citation(s) in RCA: 81] [Impact Index Per Article: 20.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
Reproducible science requires transparent reporting. The ARRIVE guidelines (Animal Research: Reporting of In Vivo Experiments) were originally developed in 2010 to improve the reporting of animal research. They consist of a checklist of information to include in publications describing in vivo experiments to enable others to scrutinise the work adequately, evaluate its methodological rigour, and reproduce the methods and results. Despite considerable levels of endorsement by funders and journals over the years, adherence to the guidelines has been inconsistent, and the anticipated improvements in the quality of reporting in animal research publications have not been achieved. Here, we introduce ARRIVE 2.0. The guidelines have been updated and information reorganised to facilitate their use in practice. We used a Delphi exercise to prioritise and divide the items of the guidelines into 2 sets, the "ARRIVE Essential 10," which constitutes the minimum requirement, and the "Recommended Set," which describes the research context. This division facilitates improved reporting of animal research by supporting a stepwise approach to implementation. This helps journal editors and reviewers verify that the most important items are being reported in manuscripts. We have also developed the accompanying Explanation and Elaboration document, which serves (1) to explain the rationale behind each item in the guidelines, (2) to clarify key concepts, and (3) to provide illustrative examples. We aim, through these changes, to help ensure that researchers, reviewers, and journal editors are better equipped to improve the rigour and transparency of the scientific process and thus reproducibility.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Viki Hurst
- Science Manager – Experimental Design and Reporting, NC3Rs, London, United Kingdom
| | - Amrita Ahluwalia
- Professor of Vascular Pharmacology, Co-Director, The William Harvey Research Institute, London, United Kingdom
- Director of the Barts Cardiovascular CTU, Queen Mary University of London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Sabina Alam
- Director of Publishing Ethics and Integrity, Taylor & Francis Group, London, United Kingdom
| | - Marc T. Avey
- Lead Health Scientist, Health Science Practice, ICF, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America
| | - Monya Baker
- Senior Editor, Opinion, Nature, San Francisco, California, United States of America
| | - William J. Browne
- Professor of Statistics, School of Education, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom
| | - Alejandra Clark
- Senior Editor, Team Manager – Life Sciences, PLOS ONE, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Innes C. Cuthill
- Professor of Behavioural Ecology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom
| | - Ulrich Dirnagl
- Director, QUEST Center for Transforming Biomedical Research, Berlin Institute of Health & Department of Experimental Neurology, Charite Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Michael Emerson
- Reader in Platelet Pharmacology, National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Paul Garner
- Professor, and Director of the Centre for Evidence Synthesis in Global Health, Clinical Sciences Department, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, United Kingdom
| | - Stephen T. Holgate
- MRC Clinical Professor, Clinical and Experimental Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom
| | - David W. Howells
- Professor of Neuroscience and Brain Plasticity, Tasmanian School of Medicine, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Australia
| | - Natasha A. Karp
- Principal Scientist – Statistician & UK Team Lead, Data Sciences & Quantitative Biology, Discovery Sciences, R&D, AstraZeneca, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | | | - Katie Lidster
- Programme Manager – Animal Welfare, NC3Rs, London, United Kingdom
| | | | - Malcolm Macleod
- Professor of Neurology and Translational Neuroscience, Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
- Academic Lead for Research Improvement and Research Integrity, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
| | - Esther J. Pearl
- Programme Manager – Experimental Design, NC3Rs, London, United Kingdom
| | - Ole H. Petersen
- Director of the Academia Europaea Knowledge Hub, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom
| | - Frances Rawle
- Director of Policy, Ethics and Governance, Medical Research Council, London, United Kingdom
| | - Penny Reynolds
- Biostatistician, Statistics in Anesthesiology Research (STAR) Core & Research Assistant Professor, Department of Anesthesiology College of Medicine University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America
| | - Kieron Rooney
- Associate Professor, Discipline of Exercise and Sport Science, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
| | - Emily S. Sena
- Stroke Association Kirby Laing Foundation Senior Non-Clinical Lecturer, Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburg United Kingdom
| | - Shai D. Silberberg
- Director of Research Quality, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America
| | - Thomas Steckler
- Associate Director, BRQC Animal Welfare Strategy Lead, Janssen Pharmaceutica NV, Beerse, Belgium
| | - Hanno Würbel
- Professor for Animal Welfare, Veterinary Public Health Institute, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
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19
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Würbel H, Voelkl B, Altman NS, Forsman A, Forstmeier W, Gurevitch J, Jaric I, Karp NA, Kas MJ, Schielzeth H, Van de Casteele T. Reply to 'It is time for an empirically informed paradigm shift in animal research'. Nat Rev Neurosci 2020; 21:661-662. [PMID: 32826978 DOI: 10.1038/s41583-020-0370-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Hanno Würbel
- Animal Welfare Division, Vetsuisse, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
| | - Bernhard Voelkl
- Animal Welfare Division, Vetsuisse, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Naomi S Altman
- Department of Statistics, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA
| | - Anders Forsman
- Department of Biology and Environmental Science, Linnaeus University, Kalmar, Sweden
| | - Wolfgang Forstmeier
- Department of Behavioural Ecology and Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Seewiesen, Germany
| | - Jessica Gurevitch
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, USA
| | - Ivana Jaric
- Animal Welfare Division, Vetsuisse, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Natasha A Karp
- Data Sciences & Quantitative Biology, Discovery Sciences, R&D, AstraZeneca, Cambridge, UK
| | - Martien J Kas
- Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands
| | - Holger Schielzeth
- Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Jena, Germany
| | - Tom Van de Casteele
- Statistics and Decision Sciences, Janssen R&D, Johnson & Johnson, Beerse, Belgium
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20
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Percie du Sert N, Hurst V, Ahluwalia A, Alam S, Avey MT, Baker M, Browne WJ, Clark A, Cuthill IC, Dirnagl U, Emerson M, Garner P, Holgate ST, Howells DW, Karp NA, Lazic SE, Lidster K, MacCallum CJ, Macleod M, Pearl EJ, Petersen OH, Rawle F, Reynolds P, Rooney K, Sena ES, Silberberg SD, Steckler T, Würbel H. The ARRIVE guidelines 2.0: Updated guidelines for reporting animal research. Br J Pharmacol 2020; 177:3617-3624. [PMID: 32662519 PMCID: PMC7393194 DOI: 10.1111/bph.15193] [Citation(s) in RCA: 292] [Impact Index Per Article: 73.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Reproducible science requires transparent reporting. The ARRIVE guidelines (Animal Research: Reporting of In Vivo Experiments) were originally developed in 2010 to improve the reporting of animal research. They consist of a checklist of information to include in publications describing in vivo experiments to enable others to scrutinise the work adequately, evaluate its methodological rigour, and reproduce the methods and results. Despite considerable levels of endorsement by funders and journals over the years, adherence to the guidelines has been inconsistent, and the anticipated improvements in the quality of reporting in animal research publications have not been achieved. Here, we introduce ARRIVE 2.0. The guidelines have been updated and information reorganised to facilitate their use in practice. We used a Delphi exercise to prioritise and divide the items of the guidelines into 2 sets, the "ARRIVE Essential 10," which constitutes the minimum requirement, and the "Recommended Set," which describes the research context. This division facilitates improved reporting of animal research by supporting a stepwise approach to implementation. This helps journal editors and reviewers verify that the most important items are being reported in manuscripts. We have also developed the accompanying Explanation and Elaboration (E&E) document, which serves (1) to explain the rationale behind each item in the guidelines, (2) to clarify key concepts, and (3) to provide illustrative examples. We aim, through these changes, to help ensure that researchers, reviewers, and journal editors are better equipped to improve the rigour and transparency of the scientific process and thus reproducibility.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Amrita Ahluwalia
- The William Harvey Research Institute, London, UK
- Barts Cardiovascular CTU, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK
| | | | - Marc T Avey
- Health Science Practice, ICF, Durham, North Carolina, USA
| | | | | | | | - Innes C Cuthill
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
| | - Ulrich Dirnagl
- QUEST Center for Transforming Biomedical Research, Berlin Institute of Health & Department of Experimental Neurology, Charite Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Michael Emerson
- National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London, London, UK
| | - Paul Garner
- Centre for Evidence Synthesis in Global Health, Clinical Sciences Department, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, UK
| | - Stephen T Holgate
- Clinical and Experimental Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
| | - David W Howells
- Tasmanian School of Medicine, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Australia
| | - Natasha A Karp
- Data Sciences & Quantitative Biology, Discovery Sciences, R&D, AstraZeneca, Cambridge, UK
| | | | | | | | | | | | - Ole H Petersen
- Academia Europaea Knowledge Hub, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
| | | | - Penny Reynolds
- Statistics in Anesthesiology Research (STAR) Core & Research Assistant Professor, Department of Anesthesiology, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA
| | - Kieron Rooney
- Discipline of Exercise and Sport Science, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
| | | | - Shai D Silberberg
- National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | | | - Hanno Würbel
- Veterinary Public Health Institute, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
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21
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Percie du Sert N, Hurst V, Ahluwalia A, Alam S, Avey MT, Baker M, Browne WJ, Clark A, Cuthill IC, Dirnagl U, Emerson M, Garner P, Holgate ST, Howells DW, Karp NA, Lazic SE, Lidster K, MacCallum CJ, Macleod M, Pearl EJ, Petersen OH, Rawle F, Reynolds P, Rooney K, Sena ES, Silberberg SD, Steckler T, Würbel H. The ARRIVE guidelines 2.0: Updated guidelines for reporting animal research. BMC Vet Res 2020; 16:242. [PMID: 32660541 PMCID: PMC7359286 DOI: 10.1186/s12917-020-02451-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 115] [Impact Index Per Article: 28.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Reproducible science requires transparent reporting. The ARRIVE guidelines (Animal Research: Reporting of In Vivo Experiments) were originally developed in 2010 to improve the reporting of animal research. They consist of a checklist of information to include in publications describing in vivo experiments to enable others to scrutinise the work adequately, evaluate its methodological rigour, and reproduce the methods and results. Despite considerable levels of endorsement by funders and journals over the years, adherence to the guidelines has been inconsistent, and the anticipated improvements in the quality of reporting in animal research publications have not been achieved. Here, we introduce ARRIVE 2.0. The guidelines have been updated and information reorganised to facilitate their use in practice. We used a Delphi exercise to prioritise and divide the items of the guidelines into 2 sets, the "ARRIVE Essential 10," which constitutes the minimum requirement, and the "Recommended Set," which describes the research context. This division facilitates improved reporting of animal research by supporting a stepwise approach to implementation. This helps journal editors and reviewers verify that the most important items are being reported in manuscripts. We have also developed the accompanying Explanation and Elaboration document, which serves (1) to explain the rationale behind each item in the guidelines, (2) to clarify key concepts, and (3) to provide illustrative examples. We aim, through these changes, to help ensure that researchers, reviewers, and journal editors are better equipped to improve the rigour and transparency of the scientific process and thus reproducibility.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Viki Hurst
- Experimental Design and Reporting, NC3Rs, London, UK
| | - Amrita Ahluwalia
- The William Harvey Research Institute, London, UK
- Barts Cardiovascular CTU, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK
| | - Sabina Alam
- Publishing Ethics and Integrity, Taylor & Francis Group, London, UK
| | - Marc T Avey
- Health Science Practice, ICF, Durham, North Carolina, USA
| | - Monya Baker
- Opinion, Nature, San Francisco, California, USA
| | | | | | - Innes C Cuthill
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
| | - Ulrich Dirnagl
- QUEST Center for Transforming Biomedical Research, Berlin Institute of Health & Department of Experimental Neurology, Charite Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Michael Emerson
- National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London, London, UK
| | - Paul Garner
- Centre for Evidence Synthesis in Global Health, Clinical Sciences Department, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, UK
| | - Stephen T Holgate
- Clinical and Experimental Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
| | - David W Howells
- Tasmanian School of Medicine, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Australia
| | - Natasha A Karp
- Data Sciences & Quantitative Biology, Discovery Sciences, R&D, AstraZeneca, Cambridge, UK
| | | | | | | | - Malcolm Macleod
- Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | | | - Ole H Petersen
- Academia Europaea Knowledge Hub, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
| | - Frances Rawle
- Policy, Ethics and Governance, Medical Research Council, London, UK
| | - Penny Reynolds
- Statistics in Anesthesiology Research (STAR), Department of Anesthesiology College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA
| | - Kieron Rooney
- Discipline of Exercise and Sport Science, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
| | - Emily S Sena
- Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Shai D Silberberg
- Research Quality, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | | | - Hanno Würbel
- Veterinary Public Health Institute, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
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22
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Percie du Sert N, Ahluwalia A, Alam S, Avey MT, Baker M, Browne WJ, Clark A, Cuthill IC, Dirnagl U, Emerson M, Garner P, Holgate ST, Howells DW, Hurst V, Karp NA, Lazic SE, Lidster K, MacCallum CJ, Macleod M, Pearl EJ, Petersen OH, Rawle F, Reynolds P, Rooney K, Sena ES, Silberberg SD, Steckler T, Würbel H. Reporting animal research: Explanation and elaboration for the ARRIVE guidelines 2.0. PLoS Biol 2020; 18:e3000411. [PMID: 32663221 PMCID: PMC7360025 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3000411] [Citation(s) in RCA: 903] [Impact Index Per Article: 225.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Improving the reproducibility of biomedical research is a major challenge. Transparent and accurate reporting is vital to this process; it allows readers to assess the reliability of the findings and repeat or build upon the work of other researchers. The ARRIVE guidelines (Animal Research: Reporting In Vivo Experiments) were developed in 2010 to help authors and journals identify the minimum information necessary to report in publications describing in vivo experiments. Despite widespread endorsement by the scientific community, the impact of ARRIVE on the transparency of reporting in animal research publications has been limited. We have revised the ARRIVE guidelines to update them and facilitate their use in practice. The revised guidelines are published alongside this paper. This explanation and elaboration document was developed as part of the revision. It provides further information about each of the 21 items in ARRIVE 2.0, including the rationale and supporting evidence for their inclusion in the guidelines, elaboration of details to report, and examples of good reporting from the published literature. This document also covers advice and best practice in the design and conduct of animal studies to support researchers in improving standards from the start of the experimental design process through to publication.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Amrita Ahluwalia
- The William Harvey Research Institute, London, United Kingdom
- Barts Cardiovascular CTU, Queen Mary University of London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Sabina Alam
- Taylor & Francis Group, London, United Kingdom
| | - Marc T. Avey
- Health Science Practice, ICF, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America
| | - Monya Baker
- Nature, San Francisco, California, United States of America
| | | | | | - Innes C. Cuthill
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom
| | - Ulrich Dirnagl
- QUEST Center for Transforming Biomedical Research, Berlin Institute of Health & Department of Experimental Neurology, Charite Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Michael Emerson
- National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Paul Garner
- Centre for Evidence Synthesis in Global Health, Clinical Sciences Department, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, United Kingdom
| | - Stephen T. Holgate
- Clinical and Experimental Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom
| | - David W. Howells
- Tasmanian School of Medicine, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Australia
| | | | - Natasha A. Karp
- Data Sciences & Quantitative Biology, Discovery Sciences, R&D, AstraZeneca, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | | | | | | | - Malcolm Macleod
- Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
| | | | - Ole H. Petersen
- Academia Europaea Knowledge Hub, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom
| | | | - Penny Reynolds
- Statistics in Anesthesiology Research (STAR) Core, Department of Anesthesiology, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America
| | - Kieron Rooney
- Discipline of Exercise and Sport Science, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
| | - Emily S. Sena
- Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
| | - Shai D. Silberberg
- National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America
| | | | - Hanno Würbel
- Veterinary Public Health Institute, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
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23
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Percie du Sert N, Hurst V, Ahluwalia A, Alam S, Avey MT, Baker M, Browne WJ, Clark A, Cuthill IC, Dirnagl U, Emerson M, Garner P, Holgate ST, Howells DW, Karp NA, Lazic SE, Lidster K, MacCallum CJ, Macleod M, Pearl EJ, Petersen OH, Rawle F, Reynolds P, Rooney K, Sena ES, Silberberg SD, Steckler T, Würbel H. The ARRIVE guidelines 2.0: Updated guidelines for reporting animal research. PLoS Biol 2020; 18:e3000410. [PMID: 32663219 PMCID: PMC7360023 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3000410] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1977] [Impact Index Per Article: 494.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Reproducible science requires transparent reporting. The ARRIVE guidelines (Animal Research: Reporting of In Vivo Experiments) were originally developed in 2010 to improve the reporting of animal research. They consist of a checklist of information to include in publications describing in vivo experiments to enable others to scrutinise the work adequately, evaluate its methodological rigour, and reproduce the methods and results. Despite considerable levels of endorsement by funders and journals over the years, adherence to the guidelines has been inconsistent, and the anticipated improvements in the quality of reporting in animal research publications have not been achieved. Here, we introduce ARRIVE 2.0. The guidelines have been updated and information reorganised to facilitate their use in practice. We used a Delphi exercise to prioritise and divide the items of the guidelines into 2 sets, the "ARRIVE Essential 10," which constitutes the minimum requirement, and the "Recommended Set," which describes the research context. This division facilitates improved reporting of animal research by supporting a stepwise approach to implementation. This helps journal editors and reviewers verify that the most important items are being reported in manuscripts. We have also developed the accompanying Explanation and Elaboration (E&E) document, which serves (1) to explain the rationale behind each item in the guidelines, (2) to clarify key concepts, and (3) to provide illustrative examples. We aim, through these changes, to help ensure that researchers, reviewers, and journal editors are better equipped to improve the rigour and transparency of the scientific process and thus reproducibility.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Amrita Ahluwalia
- The William Harvey Research Institute, London, United Kingdom
- Barts Cardiovascular CTU, Queen Mary University of London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Sabina Alam
- Taylor & Francis Group, London, United Kingdom
| | - Marc T. Avey
- Health Science Practice, ICF, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America
| | - Monya Baker
- Nature, San Francisco, California, United States of America
| | | | | | - Innes C. Cuthill
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom
| | - Ulrich Dirnagl
- QUEST Center for Transforming Biomedical Research, Berlin Institute of Health & Department of Experimental Neurology, Charite Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Michael Emerson
- National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Paul Garner
- Centre for Evidence Synthesis in Global Health, Clinical Sciences Department, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, United Kingdom
| | - Stephen T. Holgate
- Clinical and Experimental Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom
| | - David W. Howells
- Tasmanian School of Medicine, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Australia
| | - Natasha A. Karp
- Data Sciences & Quantitative Biology, Discovery Sciences, R&D, AstraZeneca, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | | | | | | | - Malcolm Macleod
- Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
| | | | - Ole H. Petersen
- Academia Europaea Knowledge Hub, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom
| | | | - Penny Reynolds
- Statistics in Anesthesiology Research (STAR) Core, Department of Anesthesiology, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America
| | - Kieron Rooney
- Discipline of Exercise and Sport Science, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
| | - Emily S. Sena
- Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
| | - Shai D. Silberberg
- National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America
| | | | - Hanno Würbel
- Veterinary Public Health Institute, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
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24
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Voelkl B, Altman NS, Forsman A, Forstmeier W, Gurevitch J, Jaric I, Karp NA, Kas MJ, Schielzeth H, Van de Casteele T, Würbel H. Author Correction: Reproducibility of animal research in light of biological variation. Nat Rev Neurosci 2020; 21:394. [DOI: 10.1038/s41583-020-0326-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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25
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Bräm Dubé M, Asher L, Würbel H, Riemer S, Melotti L. Parallels in the interactive effect of highly sensitive personality and social factors on behaviour problems in dogs and humans. Sci Rep 2020; 10:5288. [PMID: 32210263 PMCID: PMC7093480 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-62094-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/05/2019] [Accepted: 03/09/2020] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Sensory Processing Sensitivity (SPS) is a personality trait in humans characterised by a tendency to process information deeply, to be easily overstimulated, and to have strong emotional responses and an enhanced sensitivity to subtle stimuli. A trait similar to SPS has recently been identified in dogs ("canine Sensory Processing Sensitivity", cSPS). In children, this trait interacts with parenting factors to influence emotional and mental development, which in turn are linked to behaviour problems. Paralleling these findings in humans, we demonstrate that cSPS interacts with owner personality and use of aversive communication to influence the likelihood of behaviour problems in dogs. More behaviour problems were reported for more highly sensitive dogs per se, when there was a relative mismatch between owner and dog personality, and when use of "negative punishment" was reported. These findings indicate that a dog's personality might moderate how an individual is affected by environmental factors, particularly owner personality and communication style, emphasising the importance of considering individuality in prevention, development and treatment of behaviour problems in dogs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maya Bräm Dubé
- Division of Animal Welfare, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Berne, Berne, Switzerland.
- Department for Small Animals, Clinic for Small Animal Surgery, Neurology, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland.
| | - Lucy Asher
- Centre for Behaviour and Evolution, Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle University, Newcastle, United Kingdom
| | - Hanno Würbel
- Division of Animal Welfare, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Berne, Berne, Switzerland
| | - Stefanie Riemer
- Division of Animal Welfare, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Berne, Berne, Switzerland
| | - Luca Melotti
- Division of Animal Welfare, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Berne, Berne, Switzerland
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
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Abstract
Social play is associated with the experience of positive emotions in higher vertebrates and may be used as a measure of animal welfare. Altering motivation to play (e.g., through short-term social isolation) can temporarily affect play levels between familiar individuals, a process which may involve emotional contagion. This study investigated how forming groups based on known differences in the personality trait “playfulness” (i.e., the longer-term propensity of an individual to actively play from adolescence to early adulthood) affects social play. Seventy-six adolescent male Lister Hooded rats underwent a Play-in-Pairs test assessing their playfulness, ranked as high (H), intermediate (I) or low (L). At seven weeks of age, rats were resorted into homogenous groups of similar (LLL, III, HHH), or heterogeneous groups of dissimilar (HII, LII) playfulness. Social play was scored in the home cage at Weeks 8, 10, 12 of age. A second Play-in-Pairs test was performed (Week 11) to assess consistency of playfulness. A Social Preference test investigated whether I rats in heterogeneous groups preferred proximity with I, H or L cage mates. It was found that heterogeneous groups played less than homogeneous ones at adolescence (8 weeks of age), while play levels at early adulthood (Weeks 10 and 12) did not differ between groups. Play in the homogeneous groups decreased with age as expected, while it did not change over time in the heterogeneous groups, which did not compensate for the lower play levels shown at adolescence. Play-in-Pairs scores before and after resorting were mildly correlated, indicating some level of consistency over time despite the resorting procedure. In the Social Preference test, subjects did not prefer one playfulness level over another. We conclude that a mismatch in playfulness may negatively affect social play development, and thus the welfare, of rats. Groups made of animals with similar playfulness, even those initially scoring relatively low in this trait, seemed to be more successful in establishing play relationships during adolescence.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Sabrina Ruchti
- Division of Animal Welfare, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Oliver Burman
- School of Life Sciences, University of Lincoln, Joseph Banks Laboratories, Lincoln, United Kingdom
| | - Hanno Würbel
- Division of Animal Welfare, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Luca Melotti
- Division of Animal Welfare, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
- * E-mail:
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27
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Kafkafi N, Golani I, Jaljuli I, Morgan H, Sarig T, Würbel H, Yaacoby S, Benjamini Y. Addressing reproducibility in single-laboratory phenotyping experiments. Nat Methods 2019; 14:462-464. [PMID: 28448068 DOI: 10.1038/nmeth.4259] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Neri Kafkafi
- Department of Statistics and O.R., School of Mathematical Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Ilan Golani
- Department of Zoology, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Iman Jaljuli
- Department of Statistics and O.R., School of Mathematical Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Hugh Morgan
- MRC Harwell, Mammalian Genetics Unit, Oxfordshire, UK
| | - Tal Sarig
- Department of Statistics and Data Sciences, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
| | - Hanno Würbel
- Division of Animal Welfare, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Shay Yaacoby
- Department of Statistics and O.R., School of Mathematical Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Yoav Benjamini
- Department of Statistics and O.R., School of Mathematical Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.,The Sagol School of Neuroscience and The Edmond J. Safra Center for Bioinformatics, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
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28
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Ruchti S, Kratzer G, Furrer R, Hartnack S, Würbel H, Gebhardt-Henrich SG. Progression and risk factors of pododermatitis in part-time group housed rabbit does in Switzerland. Prev Vet Med 2019; 166:56-64. [PMID: 30935506 DOI: 10.1016/j.prevetmed.2019.01.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/13/2018] [Revised: 01/29/2019] [Accepted: 01/29/2019] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
In rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus L.), pododermatitis is a chronic multifactorial skin disease that appears mainly on the plantar surface of the hind legs. This presumably progressive disease can cause pain leading to poor welfare, yet the progression of this disease has not been thoroughly assessed on the level of individual animals. The aim of this longitudinal study thus was to investigate the possible risk factors and the progression of pododermatitis in group housed breeding does in Switzerland on litter and plastic slats. Three commercial rabbit farms with part-time group housing on litter and plastic slats were visited every four weeks throughout one year. During every visit, the same 201 adult female breeding rabbits (67 does per farm) were evaluated for the presence and severity of pododermatitis. Additionally, the does' age, parity, body weight, reproductive state, hybrid, claw length, cleanliness and moisture of the paws and the temperature and humidity inside the barns were recorded as potential risk factors. The risk factors were analysed through general linear models and additive Bayesian network (ABN) modelling using a directed acyclic graph (DAG) for visualising associations between potential risk factors. The progression of pododermatitis was analysed with a transition matrix. Relative humidity inside the barns, body weight, number of kindlings, age, and claw length were the most important risk factors, all being positively associated with pododermatitis. In contrast to expectations, the cleanliness of the left hind paw was negatively associated with the occurrence of pododermatitis, but the effect was small. In young does, the severity of pododermatitis quickly increased and in some rabbits proceeded to ulcerated spots. It was shown that 60.00%, 14.17% and 3.33% of ulcerated lesions recovered to a state without ulceration within 4, 8 or >12 weeks, respectively.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sabrina Ruchti
- Center for Proper Housing: Poultry and Rabbits (ZTHZ), Division of Animal Welfare, VPH Institute, University of Bern, Burgerweg 22, CH-3052 Zollikofen, Switzerland.
| | - Gilles Kratzer
- Department of Mathematics, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, CH-8057 Zürich, Switzerland.
| | - Reinhard Furrer
- Department of Mathematics, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, CH-8057 Zürich, Switzerland; Department of Computational Science, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, CH-8057 Zürich, Switzerland.
| | - Sonja Hartnack
- Section of Epidemiology, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Zürich, Winterthurerstrasse 270, CH-8057 Zürich, Switzerland.
| | - Hanno Würbel
- Animal Welfare Division, Veterinary Public Health Institute, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Länggassstrasse 120, CH-3012 Bern, Switzerland.
| | - Sabine G Gebhardt-Henrich
- Center for Proper Housing: Poultry and Rabbits (ZTHZ), Division of Animal Welfare, VPH Institute, University of Bern, Burgerweg 22, CH-3052 Zollikofen, Switzerland.
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29
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Bailoo JD, Murphy E, Boada-Saña M, Varholick JA, Hintze S, Baussière C, Hahn KC, Göpfert C, Palme R, Voelkl B, Würbel H. Effects of Cage Enrichment on Behavior, Welfare and Outcome Variability in Female Mice. Front Behav Neurosci 2018; 12:232. [PMID: 30416435 PMCID: PMC6212514 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2018.00232] [Citation(s) in RCA: 65] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/20/2018] [Accepted: 09/14/2018] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The manner in which laboratory rodents are housed is driven by economics (minimal use of space and resources), ergonomics (ease of handling and visibility of animals), hygiene, and standardization (reduction of variation). This has resulted in housing conditions that lack sensory and motor stimulation and restrict the expression of species-typical behavior. In mice, such housing conditions have been associated with indicators of impaired welfare, including abnormal repetitive behavior (stereotypies, compulsive behavior), enhanced anxiety and stress reactivity, and thermal stress. However, due to concerns that more complex environmental conditions might increase variation in experimental results, there has been considerable resistance to the implementation of environmental enrichment beyond the provision of nesting material. Here, using 96 C57BL/6 and SWISS female mice, respectively, we systematically varied environmental enrichment across four levels spanning the range of common enrichment strategies: (1) bedding alone; (2) bedding + nesting material; (3) deeper bedding + nesting material + shelter + increased vertical space; and (4) semi-naturalistic conditions, including weekly changes of enrichment items. We studied how these different forms of environmental enrichment affected measures of animal welfare, including home-cage behavior (time–budget and stereotypic behavior), anxiety (open field behavior, elevated plus-maze behavior), growth (food and water intake, body mass), stress physiology (glucocorticoid metabolites in fecal boluses and adrenal mass), brain function (recurrent perseveration in a two-choice guessing task) and emotional valence (judgment bias). Our results highlight the difficulty in making general recommendations across common strains of mice and for selecting enrichment strategies within specific strains. Overall, the greatest benefit was observed in animals housed with the greatest degree of enrichment. Thus, in the super-enriched housing condition, stereotypic behavior, behavioral measures of anxiety, growth and stress physiology varied in a manner consistent with improved animal welfare compared to the other housing conditions with less enrichment. Similar to other studies, we found no evidence, in the measures assessed here, that environmental enrichment increased variation in experimental results.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeremy D Bailoo
- Division of Animal Welfare, Veterinary Public Health Institute, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Eimear Murphy
- Division of Animal Welfare, Veterinary Public Health Institute, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Maria Boada-Saña
- Division of Animal Welfare, Veterinary Public Health Institute, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Justin A Varholick
- Division of Animal Welfare, Veterinary Public Health Institute, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Sara Hintze
- Division of Livestock Sciences, Department of Sustainable Agricultural Systems, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna (BOKU), Vienna, Austria
| | - Caroline Baussière
- Division of Animal Welfare, Veterinary Public Health Institute, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Kerstin C Hahn
- Institute for Animal Pathology, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Christine Göpfert
- Institute for Animal Pathology, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Rupert Palme
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Bernhard Voelkl
- Division of Animal Welfare, Veterinary Public Health Institute, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Hanno Würbel
- Division of Animal Welfare, Veterinary Public Health Institute, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
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Ruchti S, Meier AR, Würbel H, Kratzer G, Gebhardt-Henrich SG, Hartnack S. Pododermatitis in group housed rabbit does in Switzerland—Prevalence, severity and risk factors. Prev Vet Med 2018; 158:114-121. [DOI: 10.1016/j.prevetmed.2018.06.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/02/2018] [Revised: 06/11/2018] [Accepted: 06/27/2018] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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Bremhorst A, Bütler S, Würbel H, Riemer S. Incentive motivation in pet dogs - preference for constant vs varied food rewards. Sci Rep 2018; 8:9756. [PMID: 29950698 PMCID: PMC6021384 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-28079-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/09/2018] [Accepted: 06/15/2018] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Recently, there has been a move towards positive reinforcement using food rewards in animal training. By definition, rewards function as reinforcers if they increase or maintain the frequency of behaviour that they follow. However, in operant conditioning tasks animals frequently show systematic changes in performance - in particular a reduction in responding over time. One suggested strategy to avoid such performance decrements is to provide a variety of food rewards, rather than the same food reward in all trials. The enhancement of appetitive behaviour and consumption by reward variation is referred to as 'variety effect'. We investigated whether dogs preferred a variable or a constant food reward in a concurrent two-choice test. Of 16 dogs, six subjects showed a significant preference for the varied food reward and six for the constant food reward, while four dogs exhibited no significant preference for either option. At the group level, there was a significant effect of block: preference for the varied food reward increased across six blocks of ten trials each. Thus, although some individuals may prefer a single, favourite food reward in the short term, introducing variation in reward types may maintain dogs' motivation in operant tasks over a longer time period.
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Affiliation(s)
- Annika Bremhorst
- Division of Animal Welfare, DCR-VPHI, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Länggassstrasse 120, 3012, Bern, Switzerland
- Animal Behaviour, Cognition and Welfare Group, School of Life Sciences, University of Lincoln, Lincoln, LN6 7DL, UK
| | - Sarah Bütler
- Division of Animal Welfare, DCR-VPHI, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Länggassstrasse 120, 3012, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Hanno Würbel
- Division of Animal Welfare, DCR-VPHI, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Länggassstrasse 120, 3012, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Stefanie Riemer
- Division of Animal Welfare, DCR-VPHI, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Länggassstrasse 120, 3012, Bern, Switzerland.
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Percie du Sert N, Hurst V, Ahluwalia A, Alam S, Altman DG, Avey MT, Baker M, Browne W, Clark A, Cuthill IC, Dirnagl U, Emerson M, Garner P, Howells DW, Karp NA, MacCallum CJ, Macleod M, Petersen O, Rawle F, Reynolds P, Rooney K, Sena ES, Silberberg SD, Steckler T, Würbel H, Holgate ST. Revision of the ARRIVE guidelines: rationale and scope. BMJ Open Sci 2018; 2:e000002. [PMID: 33954268 PMCID: PMC7610716 DOI: 10.1136/bmjos-2018-000002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/26/2018] [Revised: 04/11/2018] [Accepted: 05/02/2018] [Indexed: 01/24/2023] Open
Abstract
In 2010, the NC3Rs published the Animal Research: Reporting of In Vivo Experiments (ARRIVE) guidelines to improve the reporting of animal research. Despite considerable levels of support from the scientific community, the impact on the quality of reporting in animal research publications has been limited. This position paper highlights the strategy of an expert working group established to revise the guidelines and facilitate their uptake. The group's initial work will focus on three main areas: prioritisation of the ARRIVE items into a tiered system, development of an explanation and elaboration document, and revision of specific items.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Ulrich Dirnagl
- QUEST–Center for Transforming Biomedical Research, Berlin Institute of Health (BIH), Berlin, Germany
| | | | - Paul Garner
- Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, UK
| | | | - Natasha A Karp
- Quantitative Biology, Discovery Science, IMED Biotech Unit, Cambridge, UK
| | | | - Malcolm Macleod
- Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | | | | | | | - Kieron Rooney
- University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Emily S Sena
- Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Shai D Silberberg
- National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
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Affiliation(s)
- Hanno Würbel
- Division of Animal Welfare, Veterinary Public Health Institute, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Länggassstrasse 120, 3012 Bern, Switzerland
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34
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Sirovnik J, Stratmann A, Gebhardt-Henrich SG, Würbel H, Toscano MJ. Feeding from perches in an aviary system reduces aggression and mortality in laying hens. Appl Anim Behav Sci 2018. [DOI: 10.1016/j.applanim.2018.01.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
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35
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Frei D, Würbel H, Wechsler B, Gygax L, Burla JB, Weber R. Can body nosing in artificially reared piglets be reduced by sucking and massaging dummies? Appl Anim Behav Sci 2018. [DOI: 10.1016/j.applanim.2018.02.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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36
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Hintze S, Melotti L, Colosio S, Bailoo JD, Boada-Saña M, Würbel H, Murphy E. A cross-species judgement bias task: integrating active trial initiation into a spatial Go/No-go task. Sci Rep 2018; 8:5104. [PMID: 29572529 PMCID: PMC5865189 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-23459-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/16/2017] [Accepted: 03/13/2018] [Indexed: 01/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Judgement bias tasks are promising tools to assess emotional valence in animals, however current designs are often time-consuming and lack aspects of validity. This study aimed to establish an improved design that addresses these issues and can be used across species. Horses, rats, and mice were trained on a spatial Go/No-go task where animals could initiate each trial. The location of an open goal-box, at either end of a row of five goal-boxes, signalled either reward (positive trial) or non-reward (negative trial). Animals first learned to approach the goal-box in positive trials (Go) and to re-initiate/not approach in negative trials (No-go). Animals were then tested for responses to ambiguous trials where goal-boxes at intermediate locations were opened. The Go:No-go response ratio was used as a measure of judgement bias. Most animals quickly learned the Go/No-go discrimination and performed trials at a high rate compared to previous studies. Subjects of all species reliably discriminated between reference cues and ambiguous cues, demonstrating a monotonic graded response across the different cue locations, with no evidence of learning about the outcome of ambiguous trials. This novel test protocol is an important step towards a practical task for comparative studies on judgement biases in animals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sara Hintze
- Division of Animal Welfare, University of Bern, Länggassstrasse 120, 3012, Bern, Switzerland. .,Division of Livestock Sciences, Department of Sustainable Agricultural Systems, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna (BOKU), Gregor-Mendel-Strasse 33, 1180, Vienna, Austria.
| | - Luca Melotti
- Division of Animal Welfare, University of Bern, Länggassstrasse 120, 3012, Bern, Switzerland.,RG Behavioural Biology & Animal Welfare, Division of Behavioural Biology, University of Münster, Badestrasse 13, 48149, Münster, Germany
| | - Simona Colosio
- Division of Animal Welfare, University of Bern, Länggassstrasse 120, 3012, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Jeremy D Bailoo
- Division of Animal Welfare, University of Bern, Länggassstrasse 120, 3012, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Maria Boada-Saña
- Division of Animal Welfare, University of Bern, Länggassstrasse 120, 3012, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Hanno Würbel
- Division of Animal Welfare, University of Bern, Länggassstrasse 120, 3012, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Eimear Murphy
- Division of Animal Welfare, University of Bern, Länggassstrasse 120, 3012, Bern, Switzerland
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Voelkl B, Vogt L, Sena ES, Würbel H. Reproducibility of preclinical animal research improves with heterogeneity of study samples. PLoS Biol 2018; 16:e2003693. [PMID: 29470495 PMCID: PMC5823461 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.2003693] [Citation(s) in RCA: 135] [Impact Index Per Article: 22.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/20/2017] [Accepted: 01/19/2018] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Single-laboratory studies conducted under highly standardized conditions are the gold standard in preclinical animal research. Using simulations based on 440 preclinical studies across 13 different interventions in animal models of stroke, myocardial infarction, and breast cancer, we compared the accuracy of effect size estimates between single-laboratory and multi-laboratory study designs. Single-laboratory studies generally failed to predict effect size accurately, and larger sample sizes rendered effect size estimates even less accurate. By contrast, multi-laboratory designs including as few as 2 to 4 laboratories increased coverage probability by up to 42 percentage points without a need for larger sample sizes. These findings demonstrate that within-study standardization is a major cause of poor reproducibility. More representative study samples are required to improve the external validity and reproducibility of preclinical animal research and to prevent wasting animals and resources for inconclusive research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bernhard Voelkl
- Division of Animal Welfare, VPH Institute, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Lucile Vogt
- Division of Animal Welfare, VPH Institute, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Emily S. Sena
- Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences, Chancellors Building, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
| | - Hanno Würbel
- Division of Animal Welfare, VPH Institute, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
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Kafkafi N, Agassi J, Chesler EJ, Crabbe JC, Crusio WE, Eilam D, Gerlai R, Golani I, Gomez-Marin A, Heller R, Iraqi F, Jaljuli I, Karp NA, Morgan H, Nicholson G, Pfaff DW, Richter SH, Stark PB, Stiedl O, Stodden V, Tarantino LM, Tucci V, Valdar W, Williams RW, Würbel H, Benjamini Y. Reproducibility and replicability of rodent phenotyping in preclinical studies. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2018; 87:218-232. [PMID: 29357292 PMCID: PMC6071910 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2018.01.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 111] [Impact Index Per Article: 18.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2016] [Revised: 12/13/2017] [Accepted: 01/11/2018] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
The scientific community is increasingly concerned with the proportion of
published “discoveries” that are not replicated in subsequent
studies. The field of rodent behavioral phenotyping was one of the first to
raise this concern, and to relate it to other methodological issues: the complex
interaction between genotype and environment; the definitions of behavioral
constructs; and the use of laboratory mice and rats as model species for
investigating human health and disease mechanisms. In January 2015, researchers
from various disciplines gathered at Tel Aviv University to discuss these
issues. The general consensus was that the issue is prevalent and of concern,
and should be addressed at the statistical, methodological and policy levels,
but is not so severe as to call into question the validity and the usefulness of
model organisms as a whole. Well-organized community efforts, coupled with
improved data and metadata sharing, have a key role in identifying specific
problems and promoting effective solutions. Replicability is closely related to
validity, may affect generalizability and translation of findings, and has
important ethical implications.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - John C Crabbe
- Oregon Health & Science University, and VA Portland Health Care System, United States
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Natasha A Karp
- Discovery Sciences, IMED Biotech Unit, AstraZeneca, Cambridge, UK
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | - William Valdar
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, United States
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Bailoo JD, Murphy E, Varholick JA, Novak J, Palme R, Würbel H. Evaluation of the effects of space allowance on measures of animal welfare in laboratory mice. Sci Rep 2018; 8:713. [PMID: 29335423 PMCID: PMC5768730 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-18493-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2017] [Accepted: 12/13/2017] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
We studied how space allowance affects measures of animal welfare in mice by systematically varying group size and cage type across three levels each in both males and females of two strains of mice (C57BL/6ByJ and BALB/cByJ; n = 216 cages, a total of 1152 mice). This allowed us to disentangle the effects of total floor area, group size, stocking density, and individual space allocation on a broad range of measures of welfare, including growth (food and water intake, body mass); stress physiology (glucocorticoid metabolites in faecal boli); emotionality (open field behaviour); brain function (recurrent perseveration in a two-choice guessing task); and home-cage behaviour (activity, stereotypic behaviour). While increasing group size was associated with a decrease in food and water intake in general, and more specifically with increased attrition due to escalated aggression in male BALB mice, no other consistent effects of any aspect of space allowance were found with respect to the measures studied here. Our results indicate that within the range of conditions commonly found in laboratory mouse housing, space allowance as such has little impact on measures of welfare, except for group size which may be a risk factor for escalating aggression in males of some strains.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeremy D Bailoo
- Division of Animal Welfare, University of Bern, Bern, CH, Switzerland.
| | - Eimear Murphy
- Division of Animal Welfare, University of Bern, Bern, CH, Switzerland
| | | | - Janja Novak
- Division of Animal Welfare, University of Bern, Bern, CH, Switzerland
| | - Rupert Palme
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Vienna, AT, Austria
| | - Hanno Würbel
- Division of Animal Welfare, University of Bern, Bern, CH, Switzerland
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Affiliation(s)
- I. A. S. Olsson
- Institute for Research and Innovation in Health
University of Porto
Rua Alfredo Allen 208
4200-135 Porto
Portugal
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Sirovnik J, Würbel H, Toscano MJ. Feeder space affects access to the feeder, aggression, and feed conversion in laying hens in an aviary system. Appl Anim Behav Sci 2018. [DOI: 10.1016/j.applanim.2017.09.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
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Gebhardt-Henrich S, Toscano M, Würbel H. Perch use by broiler breeders and its implication on health and production. Poult Sci 2017; 96:3539-3549. [DOI: 10.3382/ps/pex189] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2017] [Accepted: 06/13/2017] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
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Braem M, Asher L, Furrer S, Lechner I, Würbel H, Melotti L. Development of the "Highly Sensitive Dog" questionnaire to evaluate the personality dimension "Sensory Processing Sensitivity" in dogs. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0177616. [PMID: 28520773 PMCID: PMC5433715 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0177616] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2016] [Accepted: 04/28/2017] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
In humans, the personality dimension 'sensory processing sensitivity (SPS)', also referred to as "high sensitivity", involves deeper processing of sensory information, which can be associated with physiological and behavioral overarousal. However, it has not been studied up to now whether this dimension also exists in other species. SPS can influence how people perceive the environment and how this affects them, thus a similar dimension in animals would be highly relevant with respect to animal welfare. We therefore explored whether SPS translates to dogs, one of the primary model species in personality research. A 32-item questionnaire to assess the "highly sensitive dog score" (HSD-s) was developed based on the "highly sensitive person" (HSP) questionnaire. A large-scale, international online survey was conducted, including the HSD questionnaire, as well as questions on fearfulness, neuroticism, "demographic" (e.g. dog sex, age, weight; age at adoption, etc.) and "human" factors (e.g. owner age, sex, profession, communication style, etc.), and the HSP questionnaire. Data were analyzed using linear mixed effect models with forward stepwise selection to test prediction of HSD-s by the above-mentioned factors, with country of residence and dog breed treated as random effects. A total of 3647 questionnaires were fully completed. HSD-, fearfulness, neuroticism and HSP-scores showed good internal consistencies, and HSD-s only moderately correlated with fearfulness and neuroticism scores, paralleling previous findings in humans. Intra- (N = 447) and inter-rater (N = 120) reliabilities were good. Demographic and human factors, including HSP score, explained only a small amount of the variance of HSD-s. A PCA analysis identified three subtraits of SPS, comparable to human findings. Overall, the measured personality dimension in dogs showed good internal consistency, partial independence from fearfulness and neuroticism, and good intra- and inter-rater reliability, indicating good construct validity of the HSD questionnaire. Human and demographic factors only marginally affected the HSD-s suggesting that, as hypothesized for human SPS, a genetic basis may underlie this dimension within the dog species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maya Braem
- Division of Animal Welfare, Veterinary Public Health Institute, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Berne, Berne, Switzerland
- * E-mail:
| | - Lucy Asher
- Centre for Behaviour and Evolution, Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle University, Newcastle, United Kingdom
| | - Sibylle Furrer
- Division of Animal Welfare, Veterinary Public Health Institute, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Berne, Berne, Switzerland
| | - Isabel Lechner
- Veterinary Public Health Institute, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Berne, Berne, Switzerland
| | - Hanno Würbel
- Division of Animal Welfare, Veterinary Public Health Institute, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Berne, Berne, Switzerland
| | - Luca Melotti
- Division of Animal Welfare, Veterinary Public Health Institute, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Berne, Berne, Switzerland
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Lampe JF, Burman O, Würbel H, Melotti L. Context-dependent individual differences in playfulness in male rats. Dev Psychobiol 2017; 59:460-472. [PMID: 28247407 DOI: 10.1002/dev.21509] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2016] [Revised: 01/19/2017] [Accepted: 02/03/2017] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
Play has been proposed as an indicator of positive emotions and welfare in higher vertebrates. This study investigated playfulness in male rats by exploring its consistency across motivational states (with/without prior short social isolation) and two age points at early and late adolescence. Twenty-four male Lister Hooded rats housed in cages of four underwent two play tests: conspecific Play-in-Pairs and Tickling by the experimenter, which were compared with play in the home cage and basal anxiety levels. Play-in-Pairs measures were consistent across age and motivational states, and were independent from anxiety. Positively valenced vocalizations in the Tickling test were also consistent across age, yet were negatively related to anxiety. Play-in-Pairs and Tickling play contexts, as well as social and solitary play types, were unrelated. Therefore, this study supports the existence of consistent individual differences in playfulness in rats, and suggests that different play contexts and types represent motivationally distinct systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jessica F Lampe
- Division of Animal Welfare, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Oliver Burman
- Joseph Banks Laboratories, School of Life Sciences, University of Lincoln, Lincoln, UK
| | - Hanno Würbel
- Division of Animal Welfare, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Luca Melotti
- Division of Animal Welfare, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
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Affiliation(s)
- Sara Hintze
- Division of Animal Welfare, VPH Institute, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
- Agroscope, Swiss National Stud Farm, Avenches, Switzerland
| | - Emma Roth
- Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Cambridge Institute of Metabolic Science, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Iris Bachmann
- Agroscope, Swiss National Stud Farm, Avenches, Switzerland
| | - Hanno Würbel
- Division of Animal Welfare, VPH Institute, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
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Mason G, Würbel H. What can be learnt from wheel-running by wild mice, and how can we identify when wheel-running is pathological? Proc Biol Sci 2017; 283:rspb.2015.0738. [PMID: 26842572 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2015.0738] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Georgia Mason
- Animal Biosciences, University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada N1G 2W1
| | - Hanno Würbel
- Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Bern 3012, Switzerland
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Reichlin TS, Vogt L, Würbel H. The Researchers' View of Scientific Rigor-Survey on the Conduct and Reporting of In Vivo Research. PLoS One 2016; 11:e0165999. [PMID: 27911901 PMCID: PMC5135049 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0165999] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2016] [Accepted: 10/23/2016] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Reproducibility in animal research is alarmingly low, and a lack of scientific rigor has been proposed as a major cause. Systematic reviews found low reporting rates of measures against risks of bias (e.g., randomization, blinding), and a correlation between low reporting rates and overstated treatment effects. Reporting rates of measures against bias are thus used as a proxy measure for scientific rigor, and reporting guidelines (e.g., ARRIVE) have become a major weapon in the fight against risks of bias in animal research. Surprisingly, animal scientists have never been asked about their use of measures against risks of bias and how they report these in publications. Whether poor reporting reflects poor use of such measures, and whether reporting guidelines may effectively reduce risks of bias has therefore remained elusive. To address these questions, we asked in vivo researchers about their use and reporting of measures against risks of bias and examined how self-reports relate to reporting rates obtained through systematic reviews. An online survey was sent out to all registered in vivo researchers in Switzerland (N = 1891) and was complemented by personal interviews with five representative in vivo researchers to facilitate interpretation of the survey results. Return rate was 28% (N = 530), of which 302 participants (16%) returned fully completed questionnaires that were used for further analysis. According to the researchers' self-report, they use measures against risks of bias to a much greater extent than suggested by reporting rates obtained through systematic reviews. However, the researchers' self-reports are likely biased to some extent. Thus, although they claimed to be reporting measures against risks of bias at much lower rates than they claimed to be using these measures, the self-reported reporting rates were considerably higher than reporting rates found by systematic reviews. Furthermore, participants performed rather poorly when asked to choose effective over ineffective measures against six different biases. Our results further indicate that knowledge of the ARRIVE guidelines had a positive effect on scientific rigor. However, the ARRIVE guidelines were known by less than half of the participants (43.7%); and among those whose latest paper was published in a journal that had endorsed the ARRIVE guidelines, more than half (51%) had never heard of these guidelines. Our results suggest that whereas reporting rates may underestimate the true use of measures against risks of bias, self-reports may overestimate it. To a large extent, this discrepancy can be explained by the researchers' ignorance and lack of knowledge of risks of bias and measures to prevent them. Our analysis thus adds significant new evidence to the assessment of research integrity in animal research. Our findings further question the confidence that the authorities have in scientific rigor, which is taken for granted in the harm-benefit analyses on which approval of animal experiments is based. Furthermore, they suggest that better education on scientific integrity and good research practice is needed. However, they also question reliance on reporting rates as indicators of scientific rigor and highlight a need for more reliable predictors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas S. Reichlin
- Division of Animal Welfare, Veterinary Public Health Institute, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Lucile Vogt
- Division of Animal Welfare, Veterinary Public Health Institute, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Hanno Würbel
- Division of Animal Welfare, Veterinary Public Health Institute, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
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Vogt L, Reichlin TS, Nathues C, Würbel H. Authorization of Animal Experiments Is Based on Confidence Rather than Evidence of Scientific Rigor. PLoS Biol 2016; 14:e2000598. [PMID: 27911892 PMCID: PMC5135031 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.2000598] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/19/2016] [Accepted: 11/03/2016] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Accumulating evidence indicates high risk of bias in preclinical animal research, questioning the scientific validity and reproducibility of published research findings. Systematic reviews found low rates of reporting of measures against risks of bias in the published literature (e.g., randomization, blinding, sample size calculation) and a correlation between low reporting rates and inflated treatment effects. That most animal research undergoes peer review or ethical review would offer the possibility to detect risks of bias at an earlier stage, before the research has been conducted. For example, in Switzerland, animal experiments are licensed based on a detailed description of the study protocol and a harm-benefit analysis. We therefore screened applications for animal experiments submitted to Swiss authorities (n = 1,277) for the rates at which the use of seven basic measures against bias (allocation concealment, blinding, randomization, sample size calculation, inclusion/exclusion criteria, primary outcome variable, and statistical analysis plan) were described and compared them with the reporting rates of the same measures in a representative sub-sample of publications (n = 50) resulting from studies described in these applications. Measures against bias were described at very low rates, ranging on average from 2.4% for statistical analysis plan to 19% for primary outcome variable in applications for animal experiments, and from 0.0% for sample size calculation to 34% for statistical analysis plan in publications from these experiments. Calculating an internal validity score (IVS) based on the proportion of the seven measures against bias, we found a weak positive correlation between the IVS of applications and that of publications (Spearman's rho = 0.34, p = 0.014), indicating that the rates of description of these measures in applications partly predict their rates of reporting in publications. These results indicate that the authorities licensing animal experiments are lacking important information about experimental conduct that determines the scientific validity of the findings, which may be critical for the weight attributed to the benefit of the research in the harm-benefit analysis. Similar to manuscripts getting accepted for publication despite poor reporting of measures against bias, applications for animal experiments may often be approved based on implicit confidence rather than explicit evidence of scientific rigor. Our findings shed serious doubt on the current authorization procedure for animal experiments, as well as the peer-review process for scientific publications, which in the long run may undermine the credibility of research. Developing existing authorization procedures that are already in place in many countries towards a preregistration system for animal research is one promising way to reform the system. This would not only benefit the scientific validity of findings from animal experiments but also help to avoid unnecessary harm to animals for inconclusive research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lucile Vogt
- Division of Animal Welfare, Veterinary Public Health Institute, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Thomas S. Reichlin
- Division of Animal Welfare, Veterinary Public Health Institute, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Christina Nathues
- Division of VPH-Epidemiology, Veterinary Public Health Institute, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Liebefeld, Switzerland
| | - Hanno Würbel
- Division of Animal Welfare, Veterinary Public Health Institute, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
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Abstract
Until recently, research in animal welfare science has mainly focused on negative experiences like pain and suffering, often neglecting the importance of assessing and promoting positive experiences. In rodents, specific facial expressions have been found to occur in situations thought to induce negatively valenced emotional states (e.g., pain, aggression and fear), but none have yet been identified for positive states. Thus, this study aimed to investigate if facial expressions indicative of positive emotional state are exhibited in rats. Adolescent male Lister Hooded rats (Rattus norvegicus, N = 15) were individually subjected to a Positive and a mildly aversive Contrast Treatment over two consecutive days in order to induce contrasting emotional states and to detect differences in facial expression. The Positive Treatment consisted of playful manual tickling administered by the experimenter, while the Contrast Treatment consisted of exposure to a novel test room with intermittent bursts of white noise. The number of positive ultrasonic vocalisations was greater in the Positive Treatment compared to the Contrast Treatment, indicating the experience of differentially valenced states in the two treatments. The main findings were that Ear Colour became significantly pinker and Ear Angle was wider (ears more relaxed) in the Positive Treatment compared to the Contrast Treatment. All other quantitative and qualitative measures of facial expression, which included Eyeball height to width Ratio, Eyebrow height to width Ratio, Eyebrow Angle, visibility of the Nictitating Membrane, and the established Rat Grimace Scale, did not show differences between treatments. This study contributes to the exploration of positive emotional states, and thus good welfare, in rats as it identified the first facial indicators of positive emotions following a positive heterospecific play treatment. Furthermore, it provides improvements to the photography technique and image analysis for the detection of fine differences in facial expression, and also adds to the refinement of the tickling procedure.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Sara Hintze
- University of Bern, Division of Animal Welfare, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Hanno Würbel
- University of Bern, Division of Animal Welfare, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Luca Melotti
- University of Bern, Division of Animal Welfare, Bern, Switzerland
- * E-mail:
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Novak J, Stojanovski K, Melotti L, Reichlin TS, Palme R, Würbel H. Corrigendum to “Effects of stereotypic behaviour and chronic mild stress on judgement bias in laboratory mice” [Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. 174 (2016) 162–172]. Appl Anim Behav Sci 2016. [DOI: 10.1016/j.applanim.2016.04.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
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