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. 
Golledge, H., Richardson, C. (Eds.) 2024. The UFAW Handbook on the Care and Management of Laboratory and Other Research Animals (9th ed.). Wiley-Blackwell. 1040 p.

The latest edition of the seminal reference on the care and management of laboratory and research animals. The newly revised ninth edition of The UFAW Handbook on the Care and Management of Laboratory and Other...

Robinson, L. M., Weiss, A. (Eds.) 2023. Nonhuman Primate Welfare: From History, Science, and Ethics to Practice. Springer, Cham, Switzerland. 671 p.

This volume reviews the broad topic of welfare in nonhuman primates under human care. Chapters detail the history of primates in captivity, ethical and legal issues surrounding the use of nonhuman primates as entertainment or...

Bellini, L., Schrank, M., Veladiano, I. A. et al. 2023. Retrospective comparison of the effects of laryngeal mask and endotracheal tube on some cardio-respiratory variables in pet rabbits undergoing anaesthesia for elective gonadectomy. Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica 65(1), 10.

Endotracheal intubation in rabbits is challenging and supraglottic airway devices, such as laryngeal masks (LMA), represent an alternative as they are easy to insert, and do not stimulate the larynx requiring therefore a lighter plane...

Peruga, M., Kawala, B., Sarul, M. et al. 2023. Are currently selected laboratory animals useful in the research of how female hormones influence orthodontic biomechanics? Animals 13(4), 629.

Animal testing was and remains the only method of introducing a certain treatment and medical procedure on humans. On the other hand, animals have their rights resulting from applicable legal acts, including Directive 2010/63/EU and...

Quante, S. M., Siewert, V., Palme, R. et al. 2023. The power of a touch: Regular touchscreen training but not its termination affects hormones and behavior in mice. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience 17, 1112780.

Touchscreen-based procedures are increasingly used in experimental animal research. They not only represent a promising approach for translational research, but have also been highlighted as a powerful tool to reduce potential experimenter effects in animal...

Ruvira, S., Rodríguez-Rodríguez, P., Cañas, S. et al. 2023. Evaluation of parameters which influence voluntary ingestion of supplements in rats. Animals 13(11), 1827.

Drug safety and efficacy studies frequently use oral gavage, but repetitive usage may cause problems. Administration through voluntary ingestion represents an opportunity for refinement. We aimed to develop a protocol for voluntary ingestion of gelatin-based...

Swan, J., Boyer, S., Westlund, K. et al. 2023. Decreased levels of discomfort in repeatedly handled mice during experimental procedures, assessed by facial expressions. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience 17, 1109886.

Mice are the most commonly used laboratory animal, yet there are limited studies which investigate the effects of repeated handling on their welfare and scientific outcomes. Furthermore, simple methods to evaluate distress in mice are...

Van Kerschaver, C., Turpin, D., Michiels, J. et al. 2023. Reducing weaning stress in piglets by pre-weaning socialization and gradual separation from the sow: A review. Animals 13(10), 1644.

The weaning of pigs in most commercial pork production systems is an abrupt event performed at a fairly young age, i.e., mostly between 2.5 and 5 weeks of age. This practice induces a stress response...

Vicentini, R. R., El Faro, L., Ujita, A. et al. 2023. Effects of training for first milking involving positive tactile stimulation on post-calving maternal behaviors in primiparous gyr dairy cows. Animals 13(5), 921.

In dairy systems with Zebu breeds, calves are not immediately separated from their dams after calving; consequently, maternal care and protective behavior are important, influencing both productive performance and stockpeople’s safety. Our objectives were to...

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...

Bramati, G., Stauffer, P., Nigri, M. et al. 2023. Environmental enrichment improves hippocampus-dependent spatial learning in female C57BL/6 mice in novel IntelliCage sweet reward-based behavioral tests. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience 17.

The IntelliCage is an automated home-cage system that allows researchers to investigate the spontaneous behavior and learning abilities of group-housed mice. The IntelliCage enables us to increase the standardization and reproducibility of behavioral outcomes by...

Esparza, K. 2023, August. Moving away from soiled bedding sentinels—The (R)evolution in rodent health screening. Animal Technology and Welfare 22(2), 158–160.

Traditional health monitoring methods consisted of Soiled Bedding Sentinels (SBS (i.e. animals exposed to dirty bedding from colony animals)), which require the euthanasia of SBS. Numerous studies have demonstrated that SBS may not accurately represent...

Marin, N., Moragon, A., Gil, D. et al. 2023. Acclimation and blood sampling: Effects on stress markers in C57Bl/6J mice. Animals 13(18), 2816.

Blood sampling in rodents is common practice in scientific studies. Some of the refined methods widely used are the puncture of the saphenous vein or tail vein, or even tail docking. The handling needs of...

Ortín-Bustillo, A., Botía, M., López-Arjona, M. et al. 2023. Saliva sampling material matters: Effects on the results of saliva analysis in pigs. Animals 13(24), 3757.

The use of saliva as a biological sample from pigs is of high practical interest because blood collection from pigs is difficult and stressful. In this study, the influence of two different materials, a cotton...

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...

Schneidewind, S. J., Meemken, D., Langforth, S. 2023. Measures and penalties for animal welfare violations at german abattoirs: A compilation of current recommendations and practices. Animals 13(18), 2916.

Protecting animal welfare during preslaughter handling and slaughter is an important ethical concern with growing importance to consumers. However, animal welfare violations in abattoirs remain a serious problem, and the enforcement of relevant laws and...

Van Loo, P. L. P., Janssens, M. R. E. 2023. Why all healthy laboratory animals should be rehomed, no matter how small. Animals 13(17), 2727.

This paper explores the ethical imperative of rehoming all healthy animals of sentient species after experiments have finished or when they have become otherwise redundant. We take into account disparate perspectives in animal ethics and...

Brown, A. 2023. Aced it! Performing large volume survival bleeds in rabbits. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 11(3) (May/June), 44-46.

New Zealand White rabbits are commonly used for polyclonal antibody production, which can require collecting no more than 10% of total body weight every two weeks (approximately 20 ml of blood for a 4 kg...

Krall, C., Hopper, L. M., Hutchinson, E. K. 2023. Mice just want to have fun: Playpens facilitate faster training in non-invasive techniques for improved refinement and well-being. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 11(4) (July/August), 22-24.

Practical mechanisms that can be implemented by animal facilities to enhance refinement include the use of non-aversive handling, non-invasive alternative procedures, and additional environmental enrichment. Thus, we sought to collate these techniques by developing a...

Anderson, B. J., Curtis, A. M., Jen, A. et al. 2023. Plasma metabolomics supports non-fasted sampling for metabolic profiling across a spectrum of glucose tolerance in the Nile rat model for type 2 diabetes. Lab Animal 52(11), 269–277.

Type 2 diabetes is a challenge in modern healthcare, and animal models are necessary to identify underlying mechanisms. The Nile rat (Arvicanthis niloticus) develops diet-induced diabetes rapidly on a conventional rodent chow diet without genetic...

Bertani, S., Donadi, A., Franchi, J. et al. 2023. Blood microsampling in cynomolgus monkey and evaluation of plasma PK parameters in comparison to conventional sampling. Journal of Pharmacological and Toxicological Methods 123, 107298.

Microsampling, a reduced volume sampling method, has successfully gained attention at the International Conference on Harmonization (ICH) level and established benefits support its use in Toxicokinetic (TK) studies. These improved sampling techniques are less invasive...

George, A. J., O’Malley, C. I., Bulock, R. E. et al. 2023. Implementation of an alternative training method for cardiac blood collection in mice. JAALAS 62(6), 487–493.

Training personnel to work with animals presents a variety of challenges, both logistically and with regard to animal welfare. These issues make training an ideal opportunity to evaluate practices and to implement the 3R principles...

Miguelena Chamorro, B., Swaminathan, G., Mundt, E. et al. 2023. Towards more translatable research: Exploring alternatives to gavage as the oral administration route of vaccines in rodents for improved animal welfare and human relevance. Lab Animal 52(9), 195–197.

Oral vaccines are gaining attention for their ease of administration and ability to activate mucosal immune responses. However, preclinical studies using this route often require the use of gavage, which has limitations. In this comment...

Gates, K. V., Alamaw, E., Jampachaisri, K. et al. 2023. Efficacy of supplemental diet gels for preventing postoperative weight loss in mice (Mus musculus). JAALAS 62(1), 87–91.

This study investigated whether the use of commercially available diet gels prevented the postoperative weight loss associated with major survival surgery in mice. C57BL/6 mice were divided into 3 groups (n = 9 per group)...

George, A. J., Harmsen, B. J., Ford, J. A. et al. 2023. Evaluation of submental blood collection in mice (Mus musculus). JAALAS 62(1), 92–98.

The submental route is an option for nonterminal and serial blood collection in mice. This study compared the submental route to the maxillary route (also referred to as the submandibular route). The study used male...