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. 
Yamanashi, Y., Bando, H., Matsunaga, M. et al. 2020. Development of bed-building behaviors in captive chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes): Implication for critical period hypothesis and captive management. Primates 61(5), 639-646.

Wild great apes build beds for sleeping by combining tree branches or other vegetation, but the development of this behavior is poorly understood. We investigated the development of bed-building behaviors by conducting complementary cross-sectional and...

Borland, J. M., Kim, E., Swanson, S. P. et al. 2020. Effect of aggressive experience in female Syrian hamsters on glutamate receptor expression in the nucleus accumbens. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience 14, 583395.

Our social relationships determine our health and well-being. In rodent models, there is now strong support for the rewarding properties of aggressive or assertive behaviors to be critical for the expression and development of adaptive...

Miller, L. J., Vicino, G. A., Sheftel, J. et al. 2020. Behavioral diversity as a potential indicator of positive animal welfare. Animals 10(7), 1211.

Modern day zoos and aquariums continuously assess the welfare of their animals and use evidence to make informed management decisions. Historically, many of the indicators of animal welfare used to assess the collection are negative...

Ordóñez-Grande, B., Guerreiro, P. M., Sanahuja, I. et al. 2020. Evaluation of an acute osmotic stress in European sea bass via skin mucus biomarkers. Animals 10(9), 1546.

European sea bass is a marine teleost which can inhabit a broad range of environmental salinities. So far, no research has studied the physiological response of this fish to salinity challenges using modifications in skin...

Kumar, V., Pradheeps, M., Kokkiligadda, A. et al. 2019. Non-invasive assessment of physiological stress in captive Asian elephants. Animals 9(8), 553.

Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) populations, both in the wild and in captivity, have been continually declining over the decades. The present study examined the physiological stress response of captive Asian elephants in relation to body...

Carbajal, A., Soler, P., Tallo-Parra, O. et al. 2019. Towards non-invasive methods in measuring fish welfare: The measurement of cortisol concentrations in fish skin mucus as a biomarker of habitat quality. Animals 9(11), 939.

Cortisol levels in fish skin mucus have shown to be good stress indicators in farm fish exposed to different stressors. Its applicability in free-ranging animals subject to long-term environmental stressors though remains to be explored...

Moyano Barbosa, H., Gama Nogueira-Filho, S. L., Nogueira de Morais, R. et al. 2019. Non-invasive stress monitoring and temperament of chestnut-bellied seed-finch (Passeriformes, Thraupidae). Applied Animal Behaviour Science 220, 104859.

Songbirds are kept as pets around the world, and bird-singing contests occur in several countries. However, there is a lack of scientific support for songbird welfare and stress monitoring. Thus, we aimed to validate the...

Association of Primate Veterinarians. 2019. Association of Primate Veterinarians’ Position Statement: Cerebrospinal fluid aspiration for nonhuman primates in biomedical research. JAALAS 58(4), 428-429.

The Association of Primate Veterinarians (APV) recognizes that CSF collection may be required for both clinical and research purposes in nonhuman primates (NHP). Because there are inherent risks associated with the technique, the laboratory animal...

Chatigny, F. 2019. The controversy on fish pain: A veterinarian’s perspective. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science 22(4), 400-410.

Fish welfare is still a relatively new field. As such, regulations and protocols to ensure fish welfare are currently limited and vary considerably in different jurisdictions. This is in part because of the ongoing controversy...

McKenzie, D. J., Sadoul, B., Geffroy, B. 2019. Measuring cortisol, the major stress hormone in fishes. Journal of Fish Biology 94(4), 540-555.

Stress in teleosts is an increasingly studied topic because of its interaction with growth, reproduction, immune system and ultimately fitness of the animal. Whether it is for evaluating welfare in aquaculture, adaptive capacities in fish...

Sloman, K, A., Bouyoucos, I. A., Brooks, E. J. et al. 2019. Ethical considerations in fish research. Journal of Fish Biology 94(4), 556-577.

In this review, we focus primarily on the refinement of common methods used in fish research based on emerging knowledge with the aim of improving the welfare of fish used in scientific studies. We consider...

Winter, E. R., Nyqvist, M., Britton, J. R. 2019. Non-lethal sampling for stable isotope analysis of pike Esox lucius: How mucus, scale and fin tissue compare to muscle. Journal of Fish Biology 95(3), 956-958.

Stable isotope analysis (SIA) was used to examine the isotopic relationships between dorsal muscle and fin, scale and epidermal mucus in pike Esox lucius. δ13C and δ15N varied predictably within each tissue pairing, with conversion...

Animal Welfare Institute. 2019. Let’s get serious about animal play. AWI Quarterly 68(3) Fall, 19.

This article describes the importance of providing laboratory animals with opportunities to engage in play, and provides a few practical ideas for how to do this.

Edwards, K. L., Miller, M. A., Carlstead, K. et al. 2019. Relationships between housing and management factors and clinical health events in elephants in North American zoos. PLOS ONE 14(6), e0217774.

Elephants experience a number of health issues that can contribute to their well-being and survival. In managed populations, housing conditions and management practices can influence individual health, so potential risk factors associated with morbidity or...

Carbonara, P., Dioguardi, M., Cammarata, M. et al. 2019. Basic knowledge of social hierarchies and physiological profile of reared sea bass Dicentrarchus labrax (L.). PLOS ONE 14(1), e0208688.

The effects of social hierarchies (dominant/subordinate individuals), such as aggressiveness, feeding order, and territoriality, are some of the characteristics used for describing fish behaviour. Social hierarchy patterns are still poorly understood in European-reared sea bass...

Jacobsen, J. V., Steen, K., Nilssen, K. J. 2019. Anaesthetic efficacy of Aqui-S, Benzoak, and MS-222 on lumpfish (Cyclopterus lumpus) fries. Impact from temperature, salinity, and fasting. PLOS ONE 14(1), e0211080.

Large numbers of lumpfish are produced for the Norwegian salmon industry and are used to combat sea lice infestations. Periodically high mortality of farmed lumpfish demonstrates the need to improve farming conditions and animal welfare...

Anderson, J. R., Ang, M. Y. L., Lock, L. C. et al. 2019. Nesting, sleeping, and nighttime behaviors in wild and captive great apes. Primates 60(4), 321–332.

The past few decades have seen a burgeoning of scientific studies on great apes’ use of nests for sleeping in the wild, as well as their nesting behavior and sleep in captivity. We review recent...

Glover, C. N., Newton, D., Bajwa, J. et al. 2019. Behavioural responses of the hagfish Eptatretus stoutii to nutrient and noxious stimuli. Scientific Reports 9, 13369.

The suitability of a traditional testing paradigm (e.g. choice chamber) for assessing chemosensory behaviour in the Pacific hagfish, Eptatretus stoutii, was examined. Actively-swimming hagfish, tested at night, showed no preference for any region of a...

Bartley, J. 2019. Darwin’s fishes?: Keeping Malawi cichlids. Animal Technology and Welfare 18(3), 199-202.

This poster will provide information on the cichlids, including their dietary and husbandry requirements and the breeding of these animals.

Allen, P. J., Baumgartner, W., Brinkman, E. et al. 2018. Fin healing and regeneration in sturgeon. Journal of Fish Biology 93(5), 917-930.

Pectoral fin healing in fin spines and rays were examined in juvenile Atlantic sturgeon Acipenser oxyrinchus oxyrinchus following three different sampling techniques (n = 8-9 fish per treatment): entire leading fin spine removed, a 1-2...

Darbyshire, A. K., Salleng, K., Chen,P. 2018. The shocking lives of electric eels. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 6(1) (March), 14-18.

Electric eels (Electrophorus electricus) are a unique species used for behavioral research in the Vanderbilt Animal Care and Use Program. Few resources are available to describe the housing and handling of this species in captivity...

Unakafov, A. M., Möller, S., Kagan, I. et al. 2018. Using imaging photoplethysmography for heart rate estimation in non-human primates. PLOS ONE 13(8), e0202581.

For humans and for non-human primates heart rate is a reliable indicator of an individual’s current physiological state, with applications ranging from health checks to experimental studies of cognitive and emotional state. In humans, changes...

Rodrigues, M. V., de Castro, S. O., de Albuquerque, C. Z. 2017. The gingival vein as a minimally traumatic site for multiple blood sampling in guinea pigs and hamsters. PLOS ONE 12(5), e0177967.

Laboratory animals are still necessary in scientific investigation and vaccine testing, but while novel methodological approaches are not available for their replacement, the search for new, humane, easy, and painless methods is necessary to diminish...

Chatigny, F., Kamunde, C., Creighton, C. M. et al. 2017. Uses and doses of local anesthetics in fish, amphibians, and reptiles. JAALAS 56(3), 244-253.

Local anesthetics are an integral part of routine pain management in mammals, yet their use is relatively limited in fish, amphibians and reptiles. These animals frequently undergo potentially painful surgical procedures and therefore could possibly...

Burton, D., Burton, M. (Eds). 2017. Essential Fish Biology: Diversity, Structure and Function. Oxford University Press: Oxford, U.K., 448 pp.

This book summarizes the basic features of living fish. It is introduced by a chapter on the diversity of a group which has over 30,000 species, the largest within the vertebrates, describing the classification systems...