Refinement Database

Database on Refinement of Housing, Husbandry, Care, and Use of Animals in Research

This database, created in 2000, is updated every four months with newly published scientific articles, books, and other publications related to improving or safeguarding the welfare of animals used in research.

Tips for using the database:

  • This landing page displays all of the publications in the database.
  • Use the drop-down menus to filter these publications by Animal Type, Setting, and/or Topic.
  • Clicking on a parent category (e.g., Rodent) will include publications relating to all the items in that category (e.g., Chinchilla, Gerbil, Guinea Pig, etc.).
  • You may also add a keyword to further narrow your search.
  • Please note that at this time, only publications dated 2010 or later (with some exceptions) can be filtered by Animal Type and Topic, and only publications dated 2020 or later (with some exceptions) can be filtered by Setting. Most publications older than 2010 can only be searched by keyword. 
Bozzay, J. D., Walker, P. F., Atwood, R. E. et al. 2023. Development, refinement, and characterization of a nonhuman primate critical care environment. PLOS ONE 18(3), e0281548.

Systemic inflammatory response remains a poorly understood cause of morbidity and mortality after traumatic injury. Recent nonhuman primate (NHP) trauma models have been used to characterize the systemic response to trauma, but none have incorporated...

Corsetti, S., Natoli, E., Palme, R. et al. 2023. Instraspecific interactions decrease stress affecting welfare in shelter dogs: A comparison of four different housing conditions. Animals 13(11), 1828.

Shelters are stressful environments for domestic dogs (Canis familiaris). Evaluating dogs’ welfare is crucial to improve their life condition and to promote a better management of shelters. We aimed at verifying which variables improved welfare...

Lee, G.-H., Jo, W., Kang, T.-K. et al. 2023. Assessment of stress caused by environmental changes for improving the welfare of laboratory beagle dogs. Animals 13(6), 1095.

Animal stress is influenced by environmental factors, yet only a few studies have evaluated the effects of environmental stress on captive dogs. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of environmental and social enrichment on...

Pennington, E., Springer, C., Albright, J. et al. 2023. Evaluation of different methods of environmental enrichment to control anxiety in dogs undergoing hemilaminectomy after acute intervertebral disc extrusion: A randomized double-blinded study. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 10, 1124982.

The goal of this randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled study was to evaluate the effect of environmental enrichment (EE) on post-operative pain and anxiety in dogs following hemilaminectomy for acute intervertebral disc extrusion (IVDE).MethodsTwenty healthy client-owned dogs...

Hammer, R., Stribos, M. S., Boehm, P. M. et al. 2023. A novel methodological approach for group classification during fission of a semi-free-ranging group of Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata). American Journal of Primatology 85(2), e23463.

The self-initiated split of a social group, known as fission, is a challenge faced by many group-living animals. The study of group fission and the social restructuring process in real time provides insights into the...

Higham, J. P., Cooper, E. B., Whalen, C. et al. 2023. Urinary cytokine measurements do not reflect surgery-induced inflammation in rhesus macaques. American Journal of Primatology 85(8), e23506.

Measurement of the health and disease status of free-ranging primates is often limited by a lack of available biomarkers of immune activation and inflammation that can be applied noninvasively via the measurement of urine or...

Hansmeyer, L., Yurt, P., Agha, N. et al. 2023. Home-enclosure-based behavioral and wireless neural recording setup for unrestrained rhesus macaques. ENeuro 10(1) ENEURO.0285-22.2022.

Electrophysiological studies with behaving nonhuman primates often require the separation of animals from their social group as well as partial movement restraint to perform well-controlled experiments. When the research goal per se does not mandate...

Flores Dueñas, C. A., Cordero Yañez, I. A., González, R. M. et al. 2023. Translational echocardiography: The dog as a clinical research model of cardiac dysfunction. Applied Sciences 13(7), 4437.

Heart disease is a major contributor to mortality and disability on a global scale. Hence, there is a need for research to improve non-invasive diagnostic techniques. Diseases in dogs with characteristics very similar to those...

Menard, J., Bagheri, S., Menon, S. et al. 2023. Noninvasive sampling of the small intestinal chyme for microbiome, metabolome and antimicrobial resistance genes in dogs, a proof of concept. Animal Microbiome 5(1), 64.

Background The gastrointestinal microbiome and metabolome vary greatly throughout the different segments of the gastrointestinal tract, however current knowledge of gastrointestinal microbiome and metabolome in health and disease is limited to fecal samples due to...

Oikawa, T., Nomura, K., Hara, T. et al. 2023. A fine-scale and minimally invasive marking method for use with conventional tungsten microelectrodes. eNeuro 10(9), ENEURO.0141-23.2023.

In neurophysiology, achieving precise correlation between physiological responses and anatomic structures is a significant challenge. Therefore, the accuracy of the electrode marking method is crucial. In this study, we describe a tungsten-deposition method, in which...

Paranjape, V. V., Garcia-Pereira, F. L., Menciotti, G. et al. 2023. Evaluation of electrical cardiometry for measuring cardiac output and derived hemodynamic variables in comparison with lithium dilution in anesthetized dogs. Animals 13(14), 2362.

Numerous cardiac output (CO) technologies were developed to replace the ‘gold standard’ pulmonary artery thermodilution due to its invasiveness and the risks associated with it. Minimally invasive lithium dilution (LiD) shows excellent agreement with thermodilution...

Piekarski, N., Hobbs, T. R., Jacob, D. et al. 2023. A comparison of oocyte yield between ultrasound-guided and laparoscopic oocyte retrieval in rhesus macaques. Animals 13(19), 3017.

Obtaining quality oocytes is a prerequisite for ART-based studies. Here we describe a method for transabdominal ultrasound-guided (US) oocyte retrieval in rhesus macaques (Macaca mullata) and compare it to the standard surgical approach using laparoscopy...

Trębacz, P., Frymus, J., Barteczko, A. et al. 2023. Accuracy of instrument portal placement using a custom-made 3D-printed aiming device versus free hand technique in canine elbow arthroscopy. Animals 13(23), 3592.

While the insertion of the arthroscope into the elbow joint is relatively easy based on anatomical landmarks, obtaining a correctly located instrument portal is often difficult. Therefore, the goal of the study was to create...

Molinaro, H. G., Anderson, G. S., Gruny, L. et al. 2022. Use of blood lactate in assessment of manual capture techniques of zoo-housed crocodilians. Animals 12(3), 397.

Species-specific welfare indicators are important in promoting positive welfare for zoo animals. Reptiles are a notoriously understudied group in regards to behavior, welfare needs, and husbandry requirements. Using opportunistically obtained samples, we evaluated how blood...

Leeds, A., Riley, A., Terry, M. et al. 2022. Out of sight, out of mind or just something in the way? Visual barriers do not reduce intraspecific agonism in an all-male group of Nile crocodiles (Crocodylus niloticus). Animals 12(3), 269.

Here, we evaluated if visual barriers could reduce intraspecific agonism in an all-male group of Nile crocodiles (Crocodylus niloticus) living in a zoo. Crocodiles were monitored for nearly 100 h, and four “hotspots” of aggression...

Gilberto, D., Michener, M., Smith, B. et al. 2022. Chronic collection of cerebrospinal fluid from rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) with cisterna magna ports: Update on refinements. Comparative Medicine 72(1), 45-49.

More than 20 y ago, we developed an animal model for chronic and continuous collection of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from conscious rhesus macaques. Since our previous publication in 2003, we have successfully implanted 168 rhesus...

Wooddell, L. J., Beisner, B. A., Nathman, A. C. et al. 2022. Sex differences in hierarchical stability in a formation of a mixed-sex group of rhesus macaques. JAALAS 61(1), 67-74.

Forming groups of captive rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) is a common management practice. New formations of unfamiliar macaques can be costly, with high levels of trauma, particularly as intense aggression is used to establish a...

Nicolis, I. N., Beale, C. N., Bidot, W. A. et al. 2022. Performance and consistency of circulating warm water blankets for rodents. JAALAS 61(1), 96-100.

General anesthesia as used for rodent research can have adverse effects on physiologic mechanisms. Thermoregulation is often greatly inhibited, with resultant deleterious effects on cardiac and respiratory function. These potential effects can be mitigated by...

Berro, L. F., Pareek, T., Reeves-Darby, J. A. et al. 2022. Influence of pair-housing on sleep parameters evaluated with actigraphy in female rhesus monkeys. JAALAS 61(2), 165-172.

Rhesus monkeys are naturally social animals, and behavioral management strategies have focused on promoting pairhousing in laboratory settings as an alternative to individual or group housing. In humans, co-sleeping can have a major impact on...

Kezar, S. M., Baker, K. C., Russell-Lodrigue, K. E. et al. 2022. Single-dose diazepam administration improves pairing success of unfamiliar adult male rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta). JAALAS 61(2), 173-180.

Social housing is one of the best forms of environmental enhancement for nonhuman primates, and current research into pair compatibility and introduction techniques focuses on improving safety and outcome. The gradual steps method (GS), which...

Stammen, R. L., Cohen, J. K., Connor-Stroud, F. R. et al. 2022. Enhancing animal welfare by providing custom caging space for nonhuman primates. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 10(1) (January/February), 20-23.

The YNPRC recently renovated two NHP housing areas with a novel facility design and equipped with a customized caging system that offers additional outdoor access, socialization, and enrichment opportunities for NHPs assigned to infectious disease...

Buckmaster, C. L., Levesque, D., LaFollette, M. et al. 2022. Five hot topics in refinement of nonhuman primate neuroscience research. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 10(1) (January/February), 24-26.

Members of the North American 3Rs Collaborative (NA3RsC) refinement initiative have chosen to summarize developments in five hot topics of interest: 1. Tips for welfare-friendly transport, chairing, and restraint; 2. Guidance on refining food and...

Guerrero-Martin, S. M., Brill, S., Carlson, B. W. 2022. Development and implementation of a positive reinforcement training program for nonhuman primates in biomedical research. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 10(1) (January/February), 48-52.

Despite clear benefits of PRT for NHPs and biomedical research, investigators often view the investment in personnel expertise and time required to train animals as deterrents towards adopting PRT. We provide an example of how...

Tomeczko, S. 2022. Interpreting macaque facial expressions and body behavior in preparation for social housing. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 10(1) (January/February), 62-63.

This article will help those who are new to working with non-human primates. Interpreting macaque facial expressions and body behavior is important for beginning the process of pair housing two animals.

Stull, C., Heagerty, A., Coleman, K. 2022. Video conference technology as a tool for pair introduction in rhesus macaques. Animals 12(14), 1783.

Pair housing is known to promote welfare for macaques in captivity. However, finding compatible partners can be challenging, particularly when animals are not located near one another. Because macaques show interest in videos of conspecifics...