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Two important safety assessment tools that are also helpful in meeting 3Rs objective are microsampling and the extended-generation reproductive toxicity study. One helps to reduce the number of animals needed for screening, the other both reduces and refines our use of animals. Yet they remain underutilized by laboratories. Alan Hoberman, Executive Director, Global Development, Reproductive and Juvenile Toxicology at Charles River Laboratories, discusses why.
How are newer techniques, like the extended one-generation reproductive toxicity study and microsampling, helping us to meet our 3Rs objectives?
While the the ultimate goal of 3Rs is replacement, reduction and refinement are the interim steps that reduce animal usage while improving quality of the information we obtain from our animal model. The extended one-generation reproductive toxicity study (EOGRTS) is designed to reduce the number of animals required for screening the toxicity of a chemical, utilize the animals more effectively and reduce the time required to develop our hazard assessment. The EOGRTS is a refinement on the multigenerational study and reduces the number of animals, while completely eliminating the need (reduction) for a separate developmental neurtoxicity and immunotoxicity study. The incentive to conducting the EORGTS for the manufacturer of chemical is a reduction in time, money in addition to animal welfare.
Microsampling, is defined as a blood sample less than 60 uL as opposed to a typical blood sample of 500 uL (0.5 mL) to allow for analysis of exposure (amount of drug or metabolite in the blood) or evaluation of a...