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...

Weaver, H. L., Carbaugh, C. M., Madejczyk, M. S. et al. 2024. Comparison of tricaine methanesulfonate (MS-222) and alfaxalone anesthesia in zebrafish (Danio rerio). JAALAS 63(1), 74–80.

The research use of zebrafish has risen exponentially over the past decade while anesthetic options have remained largely unchanged.6 ricaine methanesulfonate (MS-222) is widely accepted as an anesthetic for routine husbandry procedures, however it has...

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...

Miller, R., Grott, A., Patzkéwitsch, D. et al. 2023. Behavior of piglets in an observation arena before and after castration with local anesthesia. Animals 13(3), 529.

Surgical castration of piglets is generally recognized as a painful procedure, but there is currently no gold standard for the assessment of pain behavior in piglets. However, pain assessment is essential for evaluating the effectiveness...

Mirra, A., Maidanskaia, E. G., Carmo, L. P. et al. 2023. How is depth of anaesthesia assessed in experimental pigs? A scoping review. PLOS ONE 18(3), e0283511.

Despite the large number of pigs involved in translational studies, no gold standard depth of anaesthesia indicators are available. We undertook a scoping review to investigate and summarize the evidence that sustains or contradicts the...

Costea, R., Ene, I., Pavel, R. 2023. Pig sedation and anesthesia for medical research. Animals 13(24), 3807.

In clinical veterinary practice, proper training and expertise in anesthesia administration and monitoring are essential. Pigs are suitable experimental animals for many surgical techniques because they are similar in size to humans and have a...

Mirra, A., Hight, D., Kovacevic, A. et al. 2023. Sedline® miscalculation of depth of anaesthesia variables in two pigs due to electrocardiographic signal contamination. Animals 13(17), 2699.

Two young (11-week-old) pigs underwent sole propofol anaesthesia as part of an experimental study. The depth of anaesthesia was evaluated both clinically and using the electroencephalography(EEG)-based monitor Sedline; in particular, the patient state index, suppression...

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...

Crone, C., Caldara, F. R., Martins, R. et al. 2023. Environmental enrichment for pig welfare during transport. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science 26(3), 393–403.

This study aimed to assess the effects of environmental enrichment for pigs during transportation in different phases of their productive cycle. Two trials were conducted, the first during transportation of pigs from the piglet production...

Kim, J., Lee, J., Kang, K. et al. 2023. Effects of sling belt provision on behaviour, skin lesions, and salivary cortisol level in growing pigs after transport and regrouping. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 269, 106116.

The provision of enrichment material has been widely recommended to mitigate stress and minimise aggressive behaviour as well as enhance the welfare of pigs after transport and regrouping. In this study, we assessed the effects...

Leyden, C., Brüggemann, T., Debinski, F. et al. 2022. Efficacy of tricaine (MS-222) and hypothermia as anesthetic agents for blocking sensorimotor responses in larval zebrafish. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 9, 864573.

Tricaine, or MS-222, is the most commonly used chemical anesthetic in zebrafish research. It is thought to act via blocking voltage-gated sodium channels, though its mechanism of action, particularly at the neuronal level, is not...

Fehrenbach, L. A., Adekanye, A. A., Palillo, M. B. et al. 2022. Internal temperatures of packaging for overnight cross-country shipping of zebrafish (Danio rerio). Comparative Medicine 72(3), 195-203.

As the use of zebrafish (Danio rerio) as a research model continues to rise, so too will the shipping and sharing of zebrafish strains across collaborating institutions. If done incorrectly, shipping can result in significant...

Coutant, M., Malmkvist, J., Kaiser, M. et al. 2022. Piglets’ acute responses to local anesthetic injection and surgical castration: Effects of the injection method and interval between injection and castration. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 9, 1009858.

Although applied in some countries, efficacy of local anesthetics based on procaine to mitigate acute responses to piglet castration remains questioned. This paper presents results from a factorial study examining the effects of two methods...

Mayes, B. T., Tait, L. A., Cowley, F. C. et al. 2022. Stocking density, restricted trough space, and implications for sheep behaviour and biological functioning. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 9, 965635.

Stocking density and trough space allowance can potentially impact sheep welfare during live export voyages. The aim of this study was to assess the welfare implications for sheep housed at five allometric stocking densities, with...

Söbbeler, F. J., Wendt, S., Briese, A. et al. 2022. Comparative study of pain-related responses of male piglets up to seven days of age to the application of different local anaesthetics and subsequent castration. Animals 12(20), 2833.

To evaluate pain responses to intratesticular and subscrotal injection of three local anaesthetics and their efficacy during castration a randomized controlled study was conducted. In groups of 20 piglets, procaine (2%), lidocaine (2%), or mepivacaine...

Wahltinez, S. J., Stacy, N. I., Hadfield, C. A. et al. 2022. Perspective: Opportunities for advancing aquatic invertebrate welfare. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 9, 973376.

Welfare considerations and regulations for invertebrates have lagged behind those for vertebrates, despite invertebrates comprising more than 95% of earth’s species. Humans interact with and use aquatic invertebrates for exhibition in zoos and aquaria, as...

Weisskopf, M., Glaus, L., Trimmel, N. E. et al. 2022. Dos and don’ts in large animal models of aortic insufficiency. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 9, 949410.

Aortic insufficiency caused by paravalvular leakage (PVL) is one of the most feared complications following transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVI) in patients. Domestic pigs (Sus scrofa domestica) are a popular large animal model to study...

Mumm, L. E., Mans, C. 2022. Evaluation of dexmedetomidine-midazolam sedation in budgerigars (Melopsittacus undulatus). Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 260(10), 1194–1199.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the sedative effects of IM administration of a high or low dose of dexmedetomidine in combination with midazolam in budgerigars (Melopsittacus undulatus). ANIMALS 20 healthy adult budgerigars. PROCEDURES In a prospective, randomized...

Skade, L., Kristensen, C. S., Nielsen, M. B. F. et al. 2021. Effect of two methods and two anaesthetics for local anaesthesia of piglets during castration. Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica 63, 1.

Since January 2019, surgical castration of male piglets must be performed using local anaesthesia, if farmers deliver pigs to the primary exporting slaughterhouses according to the “Danish quality scheme”; a voluntary initiative taken by the...

Ramos, J., Balasch, J. C., Tort, L. 2021. About welfare and stress in the early stages of fish. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 8, 634434.

In conclusion, the investigations carried out up to now demonstrate that during the early stages fish show high sensitivity to many types of stressors involving an array of responses to overcome alterations that could affect...

Owen, J. P., Kelsh, R. N. 2021. A suitable anaesthetic protocol for metamorphic zebrafish. PLOS ONE 16(3), e0246504.

Zebrafish are frequently used as a means to investigate development. These studies increasingly require repeated anaesthesia of zebrafish during juvenile (i.e. metamorphic) stages. The effects of anaesthesia during this time remain poorly studied. The aim...

Vis, A., Lammers, J. C. A. M., de Vroege, R. et al. 2021. Strategies to improve survival from surgery for heart valve implantation in sheep. Comparative Medicine 71(3), 235-239.

Sheep are a commonly used and validated model for cardiovascular research and, more specifically, for heart valve research. Implanting a heart valve on the arrested heart in sheep is complex and is often complicated by...

Chang, L.-J., Ko, J. C., Weil, A. B. et al. 2021. Comparison of anesthetic and cardiorespiratory effects of tiletamine-zolazepam-detomidine-butorphanol, tiletamine-zolazepam-xylazine-butorphanol, and ketamine-detomidine-butorphanol in pigs. Journal of the AVMA 258(8), 883-891.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate and compare the anesthetic, analgesic, and cardiorespiratory effects of tiletamine-zolazepam-detomidine-butorphanol (TZDB), tiletamine-zolazepam-xylazine-butorphanol (TZXB), and ketamine-detomidine-butorphanol (KDB) in pigs and to assess anesthetic recovery duration and quality following administration of tolazoline as a...

Small, A., Marini, D., Colditz, I. 2021. Local anesthetic delivered with a dual action ring and injection applicator reduces the acute pain response of lambs during tail docking. Animals 11(8), 2242.

Docking the tail of lambs is a standard husbandry procedure and is achieved through several techniques including clamps, hot or cold knives and latex rings, the last of which is the most popular. All tail...

Sheil, M., De Benedictis, G. M., Scollo, A. et al. 2021. Efficacy of intra-operative topical wound anaesthesia to mitigate piglet castration pain—A large, multi-centred field trial. Animals 11(10), 2763.

Piglet castration results in acute pain and stress to the animal. There is a critical need for effective on-farm methods of pain mitigation. Local anaesthesia using Tri-Solfen® (Animal Ethics Pty Ltd., Melbourne, Australia), a topical...