Publikationsdatenbank

Choice tests as a means for severity assessment from an animal’s point of view (2021)

Art

Hochschulschrift

Autor

Jaap, Anne Christine (WE 11)

Quelle

Berlin, 2021 — ix, 108 Seiten

Sprache

Englisch

Verweise

URL (Volltext): https://refubium.fu-berlin.de/handle/fub188/32874

Kontakt

Institut für Tierschutz, Tierverhalten und Versuchstierkunde

Königsweg 67
14163 Berlin
+49 30 838 61146
tierschutz@vetmed.fu-berlin.de

Abstract / Zusammenfassung

To refine experimental procedures (including housing conditions) and reduce severity for laboratory animals, we need to integrate the animal's perspective. This dissertation focuses on mice and the development of tests, which investigate the preferences of mice. In Chapter 2, a literature review, potential approaches towards severity assessment from an animal's perspective are summarised. This includes preference tests (or choice tests) like the T-maze preference test, the home cage based preference test and the conditioned place preference test. These tests differ strongly in their conduction and can be used to assess different aspects of the experimental or housing procedures. However, they all share that options are compared typically pair-wise, leaving the mice a simultaneous, dichotomous choice. For example, the T-maze test can be used to compare different food items as a reward. Here, the mice is placed in the start arm of a T-shaped maze and can choose between the two goal arms, which each contain one of the options (in this case food). The home cage based preference test, on the other hand, can be used to investigate the mice's preference for specific housing conditions by connecting two cages with different housing conditions (e.g., different bedding materials) and measuring the time the mice spent in each cage. In Chapter 3, the usability of the T-maze for preference test was investigated by development of a working protocol to compare different food rewards. However, instead of displaying preference behaviour for the food rewards, the mice alternated their choices. This was even the case when comparing reward vs. no reward (i.e., similar to a simple learning test). Thus, we have to conclude that the T-maze is unsuitable for this research question, at least with the protocols used here (without food-restriction to keep severity of the preference test itself as low as possible). In Chapter 4, the home cage based preference test is thematised. Conduction of this test is usually time-consuming (when using video analysis) or cost-intensive (when using commercially available tracking software). Thus, we developed the Mouse Position Surveillance System (MoPSS), an automatic RFID based tracking system which facilitates the conduction and analysis of home cage based preference tests. It is low-cost, open-source (except for the RFID readers), accurate even for fast moving mice and easy to rebuilt, which ensures that other research groups can adopt this method for their experiments. The system will hopefully help to assess the preferences of mice, and on that basis, also to improve housing conditions of laboratory mice in the future. In Chapter 5, the main findings of the publications presented in the previous chapters are summarised. Especially two main factors observed during the experiments are highlighted: habituation and motivation. An effective habituation is the necessary foundation to make sure, the animals will actually behave according to their preference of the presented options. Otherwise other motivations (e.g., exploration or fear) might interfere with the preference test. In addition, reporting procedures in full detail in publications is mandatory to find influencing factors for preference. In conclusion, developing tests to assess the mice's preference is challenging but nonetheless important if we want to include their perspective to improve experimental and housing procedures.