Herrmann Kathrin, Flecknell Paul
Freie Universität Berlin, Department of Veterinary Medicine, Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Berlin, Germany; Current address: Johns Hopkins University, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing (CAAT), Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Newcastle University, The Medical School, Comparative Biology Centre, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
Altern Lab Anim. 2018 Dec;46(6):317-333. doi: 10.1177/026119291804600606.
Refinement refers to the use of methods that help to minimise animal suffering in the laboratory. Research in this area has increased significantly over the past two decades. However, the extent to which refinements are applied in practice is uncertain. To provide an indication of the implementation and awareness of refinements, we reviewed the experimental techniques for 684 surgical interventions described in 506 animal research applications sent to the German competent authorities for approval in 2010. In this paper, we describe and discuss the appropriateness of the proposed humane endpoints and killing methods. We found that, when the investigators included humane endpoints in their application, these were often lacking in detail and/or were to be implemented at a late stage of suffering. In addition, the choice of method to kill the animals could be improved in the majority of the applications. We provide recommendations for future improvements, based on the recent literature. To ensure scientific rigour, avoid needless animal suffering and enable an accurate harm-benefit analysis, animal researchers have to be knowledgeable about refinement methods and apply them effectively. To assess compliance and ensure that only those studies in which potential benefits outweigh the harms are carried out, reviews such as ours - as well as retrospective assessments of actual harms and benefits - should be conducted widely and regularly, and the findings should be published.
优化是指使用有助于将实验室动物痛苦降至最低的方法。在过去二十年中，该领域的研究显著增加。然而，优化措施在实际中的应用程度尚不确定。为了说明优化措施的实施情况和认知程度，我们回顾了2010年提交给德国主管当局批准的506份动物研究申请中描述的684项外科手术干预的实验技术。在本文中，我们描述并讨论了所提议的人道终点和处死方法的适当性。我们发现，当研究人员在申请中纳入人道终点时，这些终点往往缺乏细节，和/或在痛苦的后期才实施。此外，在大多数申请中，处死动物的方法选择还有改进空间。我们根据近期文献为未来的改进提供建议。为确保科学严谨性、避免不必要的动物痛苦并进行准确的利弊分析，动物研究人员必须了解优化方法并有效应用它们。为了评估合规情况并确保只开展那些潜在益处大于危害的研究，应广泛且定期地进行像我们这样的审查以及对实际危害和益处的回顾性评估，并公布结果。
