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. 
Hoglund, E., Calabrese, S., Jonassen, T. M. et al. 2024. Does sedation with AQUI-S mitigate transport stress and post transport mortality in ballan wrasse (Labrus bergyltae)? Frontiers in Veterinary Science 11.

Ballan wrasse (Labrus bergylta) are commonly used as cleaner fish in salmon farms as a biological treatment to mitigate sea lice infestation. Improved welfare for cleaner fish both during production of these fish and when...

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...

Cavallino, L., Rincón, L., Scaia, M. F. 2023. Social behaviors as welfare indicators in teleost fish. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 10, 1050510.

Animal welfare is a key issue not only for aquaculture industry and food production, but also for daily husbandry practices in research topics related to physiology in wild and farmed animals. In this context, teleost...

Eeza, M. N. H., Singer, R., Ding, Y. et al. 2023. Probing microstructural changes in muscles of leptin-deficient zebrafish by non-invasive ex-vivo magnetic resonance microimaging. PLOS ONE 18(4), e0284215.

Leptin is a hormone that plays a key role in controlling food intake and energy homeostasis. Skeletal muscle is an important target for leptin and recent studies have shown that leptin deficiency may lead to...

Holhorea, P. G., Felip, A., Calduch-Giner, J. À. et al. 2023. Use of male-to-female sex reversal as a welfare scoring system in the protandrous farmed gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata). Frontiers in Veterinary Science 9, 1083255.

Gilthead sea bream is a highly cultured marine fish throughout the Mediterranean area, but new and strict criteria of welfare are needed to assure that the intensification of production has no negative effects on animal...

Jorge, S., Félix, L., Costas, B. et al. 2023. Housing conditions affect adult zebrafish (Danio rerio) behavior but not their physiological status. Animals 13(6), 1120.

Zebrafish is a valuable model for neuroscience research, but the housing conditions to which it is exposed daily may be impairing its welfare status. The use of environmental enrichment and the refinement of methodology for...

Jones, M, Alexander, M. E., Lightbody, S. et al. 2023. Influence of social enrichment on transport stress in fish: A behavioural approach. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 262, 105920.

Ornamental fishes are among the most commonly owned companion animals in the world, however, the transportation process during acquisition can result in fishes being exposed to biotic and abiotic conditions which compromise welfare. While many...

Alef, R., Blaser, R. E. 2023. Social group during housing and testing modulates the effect of ethanol on zebrafish (Danio rerio) behavior. Behavioural Processes 209, 104877.

Zebrafish (Danio rerio) are a popular model organism in behavioral pharmacology research due to many genetic and neurological similarities with humans. As a social species, the presence (or absence) of conspecifics during housing and testing...

Dara, M., Carbonara, P., La Corte, C. et al. 2023. Fish welfare in aquaculture: Physiological and immunological activities for diets, social and spatial stress on Mediterranean aqua cultured species. Fishes 8(8), 414.

Welfare assessment currently is less well-characterized for aquatic animals and the classical methodologies used for terrestrial animals are not adequate to improve our knowledge about fish well-being. Among different approaches, the status of organism responses...

Deng, J., Zhang, H., Wang, Q. et al. 2023. An optimized environmental DNA method to improve detectability of the endangered Sichuan taimen (Hucho bleekeri). Fishes 8(7), 339.

Environmental DNA (eDNA) techniques have emerged as a cost-effective and non-invasive strategy for monitoring the distribution of endangered aquatic species. Despite their numerous advantages, operational uncertainty at each step of the process represents a significant...

Alvarado, M. V., Felip, A., Espigares, F. et al. 2023. Unexpected appetitive events promote positive affective state in juvenile European sea bass. Scientific Reports 13(1), 22064.

Some animal species exhibit considerable physiological and behavioural alterations in response to captivity. It has been hypothesized, but rarely tested, that such changes reflect a negative affective state that is associated to this specific context...

Bortoletti, M., Fonsatti, E., Leva, F. et al. 2023. Influence of transportation on stress response and cellular oxidative stress markers in juvenile meagre (Argyrosomus regius). Animals 13(20), 3288.

In aquaculture, the transportation of live fish is a crucial but stress-inducing practice, necessitating a thorough understanding of its impact on fish welfare. This study aimed to assess the physiological stress response of meagre (Argyrosomus...

Campbell-Ward, M. 2023. Quality-of-life assessments in zoo animals: Not just for the aged and charismatic. Animals 13(21), 3394

Zoos should aim to provide all of their animals with a good quality of life (QoL) throughout all life stages. In parallel with the evolution of QoL assessment questionnaires and tools in human and domestic...

da Santa Lopes, T., Costas, B., Ramos-Pinto, L. et al. 2023. Exploring the effects of acute stress exposure on lumpfish plasma and liver biomarkers. Animals 13(23), 3623.

This study aimed to expand knowledge on lumpfish stress physiology by investigating the effects of acute stress on primary (i.e., cortisol) and secondary (e.g., metabolites) stress responses, as well as oxidative stress biomarkers, from stress...

Dara, M., Carbonara, P., La Corte, C. et al. 2023. Fish welfare in aquaculture: Physiological and immunological activities for diets, social and spatial stress on mediterranean aqua cultured species. Fishes 8(8), 414.

Welfare assessment currently is less well-characterized for aquatic animals and the classical methodologies used for terrestrial animals are not adequate to improve our knowledge about fish well-being. Among different approaches, the status of organism responses...

Gui, F., Sun, H., Qu, X. et al. 2023. Temperature and dissolved oxygen lead to behavior and respiration changes in juvenile largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) during transport. Fishes 8(12), 565.

The study aimed to investigate the effects of temperature and dissolved oxygen on juvenile largemouth bass during transportation. The experiment involved four temperature groups: 20, 15, 10, and 5 °C. We analyzed the effects of...

Palomares, F., de Paula, T. A. R., Srbek-Araujo, A. C. 2023. First capture of a jaguar using a minimally invasive capture system for gps tracking in an isolated patch of atlantic forest in southern Brazil. Animals 13(21), 3314.

This study presents the first successful capture using GPS tagging of a jaguar (Panthera onca) using a minimally invasive capture system (MICS). We used snare-foot traps and a MICS during two capture campaigns in a...

Pretorius, Y., Eggeling, T., Ganswindt, A. 2023. Identifying potential measures of stress and disturbance during a captive to wild African elephant reintegration. PLOS ONE 18(10), e0291293.

There is increasing evidence of compromised welfare for elephants managed in captivity. Should such facilities eventually close, more elephants will need to be rehabilitated and reintegrated into the wild. The goal of such reintegration would...

Štrbenc, M., Kuhar, U., Lainšček, D. et al. 2023. Rehoming and other refinements and replacement in procedures using golden hamsters in SARS-CoV-2 vaccine research. Animals 13(16), 2616.

Effective vaccines are needed to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. Forty golden hamsters were inoculated with two promising vaccine candidates and eighteen animals were used in pilot trials with viral challenge. ELISA assays were performed to...

Vaz, J., McElligott, A. G., Narayan, E. 2022. Linking the roles of personality and stress physiology for managing the welfare of captive big cats. Animal Welfare 31(1), 99-111.

Animal welfare is important for the humane treatment of animals under our care. Zoos and rescue centres manage various charismatic animals, such as big cats, with limited resources. It is therefore essential for caretakers to...

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...

Boardman, R. M., Pinder, A. C., Piper,A. T. et al. 2022. Non-lethal sampling for the stable isotope analysis of the critically endangered European eel Anguilla anguilla: How fin and mucus compare to dorsal muscle. Journal of Fish Biology 100(3), 847-851.

Ecological studies on the critically endangered European eel Anguilla anguilla often incorporate stable isotope analysis that typically uses dorsal muscle sampled from euthanised eels. To minimise the lethal sampling of imperilled populations, fin tissue and/or...

Garai, M. E., Roos, T., Eggeling, T. et al. 2022. Developing welfare parameters for African elephants (Loxodonta africana) in fenced reserves in South Africa. PLOS ONE 17(3), e0264931.

South Africa has many fenced reserves harbouring small to medium sized populations of African elephant (Loxodonta africana), most of which have been translocated. Elephants on fenced reserves may be exposed to various management interventions and...

Schilling, A.-K., Mazzamuto, M. V., Romeo, C. 2022. A review of non-invasive sampling in wildlife disease and health research: What’s new? Animals 12(13), 1719.

In the last decades, wildlife diseases and the health status of animal populations have gained increasing attention from the scientific community as part of a One Health framework. Furthermore, the need for non-invasive sampling methods...

Johansson, Ö, Kachel, S., Weckworth, B. 2022. Guidelines for telemetry studies on snow leopards. Animals 12(13), 1663.

Animal-borne tracking devices have generated a wealth of new knowledge, allowing us to better understand, manage and conserve species. Fitting such tracking devices requires that animals are captured and often chemically immobilized. Such procedures cause...