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. 
Deurinck, M., Schindler, S., Bugnon, P. et al. 2018. Report from the 2017 Annual SGV (Swiss Laboratory Animal Science Association ) Meeting. Laboratory Animals 52(2), 211-213. [Meeting Report]

The Scientific Committee of the Swiss Laboratory Animal Science Association (Schweizerische Gesellschaft für Versuchstierkunde, SGV) reports on the Annual SGV Meeting held on 28 and 29 November 2017, at Technopark, Zürich, Switzerland. Feedback after the...

van Wijk, H., Crossman, L., Adjin-Tettey, G. et al. 2018. Advances in animal welfare and scientific outcomes of the bile duct cannulated rat model utilised in ADME studies. Animal Technology and Welfare 17(1), 64-67.

Since rats lack a gall bladder, they are an ideal model for investigating continuous biliary excretion and biotransformation. The design and implementation of a modified tail cuff and cannula system introduced at Covance permits the...

Hocking, A. J., Elliot, D., Hua, J. et al. 2018. Administering fixed oral doses of curcumin to rats through voluntary consumption. JAALAS 57(5), 508–512.

Curcumin, a polyphenol derived from turmeric, has a wide variety of therapeutic benefits including antiinflammatory, antioxidative, and chemopreventative effects. Oral gavage is widely performed to administer curcumin in laboratory rodents in several experimental models. Although...

Raya, J., Neves Girardi , C. E., Hipólide, D. C. 2019. Corticosterone assimilation by a voluntary oral administration in palatable food to rats. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science 22(1), 37-41.

Drug delivery in research on nonhuman animals in the laboratory is still challenging because it is usually invasive and stressful. Stress-free voluntary oral drug administration in water lacks precise control of dose and timing of...

Wolfe, A. M., Rahman, M., McFadden, D. G. et al. 2018. Refinement and successful implementation of a scoring system for myxomatosis in a susceptible rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) model. Comparative Medicine 68(4), 280–285.

Myxoma virus is a member of Leporipoxviridae whose tropism is tightly restricted to lagomorphs. In susceptible Oryctolagus rabbits, the virus causes a highly lethal disease known as myxomatosis, which begins as a localized infection but...

Byrd, R., Boyd, S., Buckmaster, C. 2018. Rat thunder jacket— A zen experience. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 6(3) (September), 55-57.

Germ-free rats are fairly uncommon, relative to germ-free mice, and restraining these animals safely and effectively for compound administration and blood collection can be challenging. There are many commercially available varieties of restraint devices, but...

Burden, N., Kendrick, J., Knight, L. et al. 2017. Maximizing the success of bile duct cannulation studies in rats: Recommendations for best practice. Laboratory Animals 51(5), 457-464.

Bile duct cannulation (BDC) studies are usually carried out in the rat to support the absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion profiling of novel agrochemicals and pharmaceuticals. The different aspects of these studies (e.g. surgical preparation...

Jensen, V. F. H., Mølck, A.-M., Martensson, M. et al. 2017. Assessment of implantable infusion pumps for continuous infusion of human insulin in rats: Potential for group housing. Laboratory Animals 51(3), 273-283.

Group housing is considered to be important for rats, which are highly sociable animals. Single housing may impact behaviour and levels of circulating stress hormones. Rats are typically used in the toxicological evaluation of insulin...

Miranda, A., Pego, J. M., Correia-Pinto, J. 2017. Animal facility videoendoscopic intubation station: Tips and tricks from mice to rabbits. Laboratory Animals 51(2), 204-207.

Endotracheal intubation of laboratory animals is a common procedure shared by several research fields for different purposes, such as mechanical ventilation of anaesthetized animals, instillation of cytotoxic nanoparticles, infectious agents or tumour cells for induction...

Kliphuis, S. 2017. Humane Endpoints website huge success in Spain and the rest of the world. Laboratory Animals 51(2), 218-219.
The Humane Endpoints website ( www.humane-endpoints.info ) provides information and training modules on how to recognize humane endpoints in laboratory animals. This helps to prevent further distress in the animals by removing the animals from...
Reinhardt, V. (ed.) 2013. Compassion Makes a Difference - Discussions by the Laboratory Animal Refinement & Enrichment Forum [LAREF], Volume III. Animal Welfare Institute, Washington, DC.

This is the third volume of discussions that took place on the Laboratory Animal Refinement & Enrichment Forum (LAREF). This forum is dedicated to the exchange of personal experiences of refining the conditions under which...

Abelson, K. S. P., Jacobsen, K. R., Sundbom, R. et al. 2012. Voluntary ingestion of nut paste for administration of buprenorphine in rats and mice. Laboratory Animals 46(4), 349-351.

An adequate analgesic strategy is important to improve the postoperative recovery and welfare of laboratory rats and mice. It is desirable that the method for administering the drug is non-invasive and stress-free. We have previously...

Corbett, A., McGowin, A., Sieber, S. et al. 2012. A method for reliable voluntary oral administration of a fixed dosage (mg/kg) of chronic daily medication to rats. Laboratory Animals 46(4), 318-324.

Stress can influence a number of physiological processes including adult neurogenesis, metabolism, cardiovascular function, immune function, neurophysiological function, endocrine function and inflammatory processes following injury. In testing drugs which may be used to treat various...

Ali, A., Dua, Y., Constance, J. E. et al. 2012. A once-per-day, drug-in-food protocol for prolonged administration of antiepileptic drugs in animal models. Epilepsia 53(1), 199-206.

Purpose: Convenient and effective methods for administering potential antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) chronically should facilitate many experiments in animal models of chronic epilepsy with spontaneous recurrent seizures. This proof-of-principle study aimed to optimize a once-per-day, drug-in-food...

Hawkins, P., Burn, C., Hurst, J. et al. 2011. Report of the 2010 RSPCA/UFAW rodent welfare group meeting - The effect of husbandry on welfare and promoting good practice. Animal Technology and Welfare 10(2), 105-114.

The RSPCA/UFAW Rodent Welfare Group holds a one-day meeting every autumn so that its members can discuss current welfare research, exchange views on rodent welfare issues and share experiences of the implementation of the 3Rs...

Fitchett, A., Judge, S., Morris, C. 2011. Using olive oil to orally dose laboratory rats. Animal Technology and Welfare 10(1), 39-41.

Many compounds are orally administered to laboratory rats using the gavage technique. This technique is stressful for the animal and can cause injury or death if performed incorrectly. Often compounds are suspended in food oils...

Van Dyk, A., Rickers, M. 2010. A technique for single-person oral gavage in rabbits. American Association for Laboratory Animal Science [AALAS] Meeting Official Program, 749 (Abstract #P215).

The physiologic and anatomic structure of rabbits can cause high mortality rates in rabbit oral gavage. Rabbits are capable of a wide variety of jaw movement due to 3 jaw-closing muscle groups (masseter, temporalis, pterygoid)...

Nelson, E. A., Keller, G. L., Mitchell, T. W. et al. 2010. A jugular bleeding technique in rabbits. Lab Animal 39(1), 17-22.

When studying pharmacokinetics in rabbits, researchers must often take multiple blood samples from conscious rabbits. Researchers usually collect these samples via the auricular vein, typically through a port or an indwelling catheter. The authors have...

Atcha, Z., Rourke, C., Neo, A. H. P. et al. 2010. Alternative method of oral dosing for rats. JAALAS 49(3), 335-343.

Oral administration of drugs to laboratory rodents typically is achieved by using the gavage technique. Although highly effective, this method occasionally can cause esophageal injury as well as restraint-associated distress, particularly with repeated use. The...

National Research Council. 2009. Recognition and Alleviation of Pain in Laboratory Animals. The National Academies Press: Washington, DC, 198 pp.

Recognition and Alleviation of Pain in Laboratory Animals, the second of two reports revising the 1992 publication Recognition and Alleviation of Pain and Distress in Laboratory Animals from the Institute for Laboratory Animal Research (ILAR)...

Reinhardt, V. 1997. Training nonhuman primates to cooperate during handling procedures: A review. Animal Technology 48, 55-73.

Twenty-six reports provide detailed information of how primates can be trained to voluntarily cooperate - rather than resist - during blood collection, injection, topical drug application, blood pressure measurement, urine collection, and capture.