Abstract
The University of Alcala in Madrid and the Spanish Society for Laboratory Animal Science (SECAL) have joined forces – with generous sponsorship from Laboratory Animals Ltd – to produce this very impressive piece of work. It fills a vacuum of readily available information on laboratory animal science in the Spanish language and, as such, is likely to become an indispensable tool for the industry in Spanish-speaking countries. The editors state that a core objective of this publication is the training of personnel working with laboratory animals, not just those responsible for their care and welfare but also those involved in the production of scientific results deriving from their use. Hence, although the work is mainly directed to staff carrying out experimental work on animals (categories B and C of FELASA), the editors hope the information contained therein will be of use to anyone involved in laboratory animal science. I sincerely think it will.
The work is published in two volumes covering a total of 31 chapters. Each chapter is written by one or more authors, from a total pool of 41 collaborators, well-recognized professionals in their own field. With very few exceptions (five), most of the authors live and work in Spain. In that respect, the work at times exclusively reflects the legal and regulatory environment particular to the country, an issue that will need to be kept in mind when Spanish readers from other countries consult this publication.
In the Introduction, the editors explain that the 31 chapters have been arranged into seven blocks (A–G) in order to answer four main questions: with what do I work? (covered by chapters ranging from biology and husbandry of common laboratory animal species, to ethics, to health and welfare); how do I work? (health and safety, experimental technique, anaesthesia, analgesia, etc.); how do I change my work? (alternatives, in vitro models); what is the result of my work? (experimental design, statistical analysis, resource management…). The first volume basically covers the answer to the first question above (with what do I work?) and introduces the answer to the second question (how do I work?). The second volume covers all the rest.
The first block in the first volume consists of three chapters: Legal and Ethical Considerations, Societal Attitudes to Animal Experimentation and Legislation. Apart from the now topical ‘Christianity-bashing sweep’, which this reviewer considers a superficial and ill-informed view on the history of the faith/science relationship, all three chapters are very informative and well written. There are plentiful tables showing the use of animals for research purposes in Europe and a very welcomed final section, at the end of each chapter, with useful web links (this section is to be found in practically all chapters throughout the two volumes).
The next block, dealing with basic biology and husbandry, is the largest of the lot, encompassing nine chapters: Animal Models, General Biology and Husbandry of Common Laboratory Species, Conditioning Variables, Types of Models Depending on Genetic Make-up, Genetic Modification, The Animals' Environment, Microbiological Standardization, Maintaining Health Status, and Nutritional Needs. As tends to be the case with multi-author publications, some chapters are better written than others and there is, to some extent, overlapping of information and inconsistencies. For example, to the UK reader, it may come as a surprise to see the information on cage sizes not in the chapter on husbandry and care but in the next one (Conditioning Variables). Size of caging itself is somewhat confusing, as we are given a table with the new ETS 123 guidelines (comparing them with the old ones and also the Home Office ones), but later on another table of recommended space allowance appears to use a different set of values altogether (of unknown origin). Some other surprises were the statement that microchips are currently too large to be employed in mouse identification (p 233), that Pasteurella multocida is highly prevalent in rabbits and Sendai virus in rats and mice (pp 317, 329), or that natural KRV infections are always asymptomatic (p 339). I also thought that the chapter on Genetic Modification would have benefitted from a glossary with definitions of concepts such as ‘allele’ or ‘recombinase’ that not every reader will be familiar with. Apart from these minor criticisms, I thought all chapters were very informative and easy to read, with easy-reference tables on all sorts of useful data.
The third block deals with welfare issues that affect the experimental animal and closes the first volume of the publication. It consists of two chapters: Physiological Needs & Related Issues and Corrective Tools for Improving Welfare. I found the first chapter refreshingly well balanced and a delight to read. The second one was also very good but I thought it a pity that the two figures showing primate socialization and enrichment gave, in my view, a rather poor picture of what can and has been achieved in this field in the last few decades (see, for example, the August 2006 issue of Animal Technology and Welfare for great illustrations). To the UK reader, some sweeping statements such as ‘induction of neoplasia in mice, always very painful, is not affected if the animal is given buprenorphine’ or ‘is up to the scientist to study whether or not analgesia is necessary in his/her experiments’ may come as a bit of a surprise. I would think that, from our perspective, a lack of veterinary input into the latter issue would be unthinkable and, with respect to the former, there are experimental neoplasms that do not seem to result in pain (e.g. skin papillomas/carcinomas) and buprenorphine may not always be the best option anyway.
The second volume starts with block D (fourth block), which deals with health and safety issues. It contains two chapters: Zoonosis & Allergies, and Risks & Control of Staff Health (basically, other health hazards). These chapters cover all the important issues and are well referenced, with emphasis on current Spanish legislation on the subject. I thought that inclusion of some information on potential zoonotic agents of fish would have been useful, given their increasing importance in biomedical research. Similarly, perhaps Table 15.4 (zoonosis transmitted by arthropods) would have been more complete if sheep had been listed as common hosts for the tick vector of Lyme's disease and ruminants for Q-Fever (Coxiella burnetii is not actually listed under the Rickettsial zoonosis). Finally, in the chapter on Risks, which also deals with disinfection and sterilization practices in the animal unit, I thought leaving out chlorine dioxide was a significant oversight, given the importance it has been gaining in the industry.
The fifth block (block E) is dedicated to experimental protocols and is further subdivided into a first section on basic experimental techniques and a second section on more specific ones. The chapters on the first section cover Administration of Substances/Sampling Techniques, Anaesthesia/Analgesia and Euthanasia. These are very practical chapters, with a wealth of useful information and excellent descriptions of various basic techniques. The latter would have been further strengthened, in my opinion, by greater use of illustrations. There were also a few surprises to be found among all this excellent material. For example, the table giving sampling sites for venepuncture in the most common laboratory species, lists the mouse ear vein (?) and the orbital plexus as acceptable but does not even include the saphenous as an option. In guineapigs, heart puncture is listed as the preferred route, with jugular and ear vein as the second best. I was also a little surprised that no mention was made in the text of the important Newcastle Consensus Document on carbon dioxide euthanasia, on the need to buffer MS-222 and benzocaine solutions for use in amphibians and fish or on the danger of paralytic ileus associated with the use of chloral hydrate in rats. But one cannot possibly cover all aspects and technical possibilities and, as mentioned above, the end of chapter section on web links, together with the bibliography section, provides the reader with plenty of opportunities to delve deeper into each subject.
The second section is made up of five chapters: Instrumentation/Physiological Recording, Organs & Systems, Experimental Surgery, Pharmacology & Toxicology, Microbiology & Infectious Diseases. I found the first of these chapters fascinating, partly because it was so unusual and partly because it was very well written. It gives a wonderful insight into the physics behind common techniques of monitoring animal physiology (temperature, blood flow, action potentials, etc.) and a sober analysis of the difficulties involved when one is studying a complex living organism. I thought the second chapter would have benefited from cross-referencing each of the models described in the text, so that the reader could check in more detail how the model of interest has been developed and refined. On the contentious issue of rodent aseptic surgery, the authors take the view that ‘clean surgery’ may be acceptable in rodents as they have very efficient immune systems for clearing intraoperative infections but, just in case, prophylactic antibiotics should normally be given when using this approach; a view others may not share… I was also surprised to see many references on the use of Catgut and somewhat obscure statements on models such as the rabbit meningitis model, where we are told the animal is lightly anaesthetized with intravenous pentobarbitone (10 mg/kg/h), while veins and arteries are cannulated. I think/hope the authors mean that the animal is first appropriately anaesthetized and instrumented before it is maintained for the bacterial challenge, but this is not made clear to the reader.
The penultimate block (F) is dedicated to alternatives to the use of experimental animals. I thought the inclusion of this section in such a manual was a highly commendable decision on the part of the editors. The very useful information unfolds in three chapters: General Concepts, In-vitro Models & Cellular/Tissue Cultures, Alternatives in Pharmacology and Toxicology. I particularly enjoyed reading the first of these chapters, with lucid and very complete explanations of available alternatives.
Finally, the last block deals with design and management of experiments, and is arranged in four chapters: Design & Steps in Experimental Protocols, Statistical Analysis, Harmonization & Standardization, Resource and Personnel Management. The chapter on statistical analysis provides many useful examples, which makes this difficult topic less arduous for the reader. And the chapter on harmonization is a very clear and complete overview of Good Laboratory Practice.
In summary, this is an excellent and most valuable resource for researchers who use animals and anyone else involved in laboratory animal science. It contains a wealth of information in an easy to read and clear format. The text can do with some editing (e.g. typos, matching between text and figures, consistency in the use of references) and, in my opinion, it would improve by a greater use of high-quality illustrations (some of the figures seem to be copies of electronic files, with hardly discernable text). But these are minor issues, to be expected of a first edition, and they will not prevent the work becoming an indispensable asset in the formation of many generations of researchers and other professionals.