• Title/Summary/Keyword: Animal testing

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Trends in the development of human stem cell-based non-animal drug testing models

  • Lee, Su-Jin;Lee, Hyang-Ae
    • The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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    • v.24 no.6
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    • pp.441-452
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    • 2020
  • In vivo animal models are limited in their ability to mimic the extremely complex systems of the human body, and there is increasing disquiet about the ethics of animal research. Many authorities in different geographical areas are considering implementing a ban on animal testing, including testing for cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. Therefore, there is a need for research into systems that can replicate the responses of laboratory animals and simulate environments similar to the human body in a laboratory. An in vitro two-dimensional cell culture model is widely used, because such a system is relatively inexpensive, easy to implement, and can gather considerable amounts of reference data. However, these models lack a real physiological extracellular environment. Recent advances in stem cell biology, tissue engineering, and microfabrication techniques have facilitated the development of various 3D cell culture models. These include multicellular spheroids, organoids, and organs-on-chips, each of which has its own advantages and limitations. Organoids are organ-specific cell clusters created by aggregating cells derived from pluripotent, adult, and cancer stem cells. Patient-derived organoids can be used as models of human disease in a culture dish. Biomimetic organ chips are models that replicate the physiological and mechanical functions of human organs. Many organoids and organ-on-a-chips have been developed for drug screening and testing, so competition for patents between countries is also intensifying. We analyzed the scientific and technological trends underlying these cutting-edge models, which are developed for use as non-animal models for testing safety and efficacy at the nonclinical stages of drug development.

Method development for efficacy testing of veterinary disinfectants using bacteriophage MS2 (Bacteriophage MS2를 이용한 소독제 효력시험 확립에 관한 연구)

  • Rhee, Chae Hong;Kim, Soohee;Han, Bokhee;Kim, Young-Wook;Her, Moon;Jeong, Wooseog
    • Korean Journal of Veterinary Service
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    • v.44 no.3
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    • pp.149-155
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    • 2021
  • In virucidal efficacy testing, the chemical inactivation cannot be determined for all viruses due to the difficulties or the inability to culture sufficiently or the risk of exposure to the viruses. Therefore, disinfectants against these viruses could be evaluated by different methods and surrogate viruses are used as alternative. In this study we developed a method for efficacy testing of veterinary disinfectants using one of the candidate surrogate viruses, bacteriophage MS2, as part of the research on the selection of surrogate viruses for efficiency of efficacy testing of veterinary disinfectants. This method is based on the Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency (APQA) guidelines for efficacy testing of veterinary disinfectants. Bacteriophage and disinfectant are reacted in suspension in accordance with the APQA guidelines and then a newly established double agar layer method is applied for the efficacy test. The double agar layer method is summarized as follows: 1) The bottom agar with 1.5% agar is boiled and cooled before poured into petri dishes at volume of 20 mL, and dried under biological safety cabinet. 2) The top agar with 0.7% agar is boiled and kept at 50℃ before E. coli culture was seeded. 3) The serially diluted bacteriophage MS2-disinfectant mixtures 0.05 mL and E. coli host 0.01 mL (OD600 0.2~0.3) are mixed with 5 mL of top agar and incubate them at 50℃ for 5 min for reaction. 4) The resulting mixture is poured over top of a bottom agar plate and rocked sufficiently to ensure that the top agar covers the entire surface of the bottom agar. 5) The double agar layer is then placed under biological safety cabinet to allow the agar layer to solidify and subsequently incubated at 37℃ for 24 hr. 6) Following incubation, the plates may be inspected for plaques and record results.

Mental Stress from Animal Experiments: a Survey with Korean Researchers

  • Kang, Minji;Han, AhRam;Kim, Da-eun;Seidle, Troy;Lim, Kyung-Min;Bae, SeungJin
    • Toxicological Research
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    • v.34 no.1
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    • pp.75-81
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    • 2018
  • Animal experiments have been widely conducted in the life sciences for more than a century, and have long been a subject of ethical and societal controversy due to the deliberate infliction of harm upon sentient animals. However, the harmful use of animals may also negatively impact the mental health of researchers themselves. We sought to evaluate the anxiety level of researchers engaged in animal use to analyse the mental stress from animal testing. The State Anxiety Scale of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) was used to evaluate how researchers feel when they conduct animal, as opposed to non-animal, based experiments (95 non-animal and 98 animal testing researchers). The Trait Anxiety Scale of STAI was employed to measure proneness to anxiety, namely the base trait of the researchers. Additionally, the information on sex, age, education, income, and total working periods was collected. While the Trait Anxiety scores were comparable ($41.5{\pm}10.9$ versus $42.9{\pm}10.1$, p = 0.3682, t-test), the State Anxiety scores were statistically significantly higher for animal users than non-animal users ($45.1{\pm}10.7$ versus $41.3{\pm}9.4$, p = 0.011). This trend was consistent for both male and female. Notably, younger animal testers (${\leq}30$ years of age) with less work experience (${\leq}2$ years) and lower income level (${\leq}27,000$ USD) exhibited higher anxiety scores, whereas these factors did not affect the anxiety level of non-animal users. The present study demonstrated that participation in animal experiments can negatively impact the mental health of researchers.

Microsatellite Sequences of Mammals and Their Applications in Genome Analysis in Pigs - A Review

  • Behl, Rahul;Sheoran, Neelam;Behl, Jyotsna;Tantia, M.S.;Vijh, R.K.
    • Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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    • v.15 no.12
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    • pp.1822-1830
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    • 2002
  • The microsatellites are the short tandem repeats of 1 to 6 bp long monomer sequences that are repeated several times. These short tandem repeats are considered to be generated by the slipped strand mispairing. Based on the unique capability of alternating purine-pyrimidine residues to form Z-DNA, the possible role of the microsatellites in gene regulation has been proposed. The microsatellites are highly polymorphic, follow Mendelian inheritance and are evenly distributed throughout the genomes of eukaryotes. They are easy to isolate and the polymerase chain reaction based typing of the alleles can be readily automated. These properties make them the preferred markers for comparison of the genetic structure of the closely related breeds/populations; very high-resolution genetic mapping and parentage testing etc. The microsatellites have rapidly replaced the restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) and the random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) in most applications in the population genetics studies in most species, including the various farm animals viz. cattle, buffalo, goat, sheep and pigs etc. More and more reports are now available describing the use of microsatellites in pigs ranging from measurement of genetic variation between breeds/populations, developing high resolution genetic maps to identifying and mapping genes of biological and economic importance.

A Case of Superfetation in a Korean Native Cow (한우에서 중복임신 사례)

  • Son Dong-Soo;Kim Chong-Dae;Cho Chang-Yeon;Jin Hyun-Ju;Yeon Seong-Heum;Choe Chang-Yong;Choi Sun-Ho;Kim Hyun-Jong;Han Man-Hye;Kim Young-Kun
    • Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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    • v.23 no.2
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    • pp.207-210
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    • 2006
  • A probable case of superfetation in a Korean native cow met in a small farm located in Imsil Gun, Chonbuk. The cow delivered twice a living male and female calves in September 4 and December 9, 2004, respectively. Thus, we determined whether this case is a case of superfetation using parentage testing technique. The parentage testing was carried out for a dam and two calves using microsatellite DNA and blood typing. As the calves had at least one of the alleles on all marker tested that existed in dam, it was estimated that both of the calves were offsprings of the cow, and that they came from superfetation.

Single nucleotide polymorphisms for parentage testing of horse breeds in Korea

  • Sun-Young Lee;Su-Min Kim;Baatartsogt Oyungerel;Gil-Jae Cho
    • Animal Bioscience
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    • v.37 no.4
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    • pp.600-608
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    • 2024
  • Objective: In this study, we aimed to evaluate the usability single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) for parentage testing of horse breeds in Korea. Methods: The genotypes of 93 horse samples (38 Thoroughbred horses, 17 Jeju horses, 20 Quarter horses, and 18 American miniature horses) were determined using 15 microsatellite (Ms) markers (AHT4, AHT5, ASB2, ASB17, ASB23, CA425, HMS1, HMS2, HMS3, HMS6, HMS7, HTG4, HTG10, LEX3, and VHL20) and 101 SNP markers. Results: Paternity tests were performed using 15 Ms markers and 101 SNP markers in Thoroughbred horses and Quarter horses. AHT5, ASB2, ASB17, ASB23, CA425, HMS7, HTG10, and LEX3 did not follow Mendelian inheritance in Thoroughbred horses, whereas in Quarter horses, only AHT4, ASB2, and HMS2 showed Mendelian inheritance, consequently, paternity was not established. Meanwhile, 31 markers, including MNEc_2_2_2_98568918_BIEC2_502451, in Thoroughbred horses, and 30 markers, including MNEc_2_30_7430735_BIEC2_816793, in Quarter horses did not conform with Mendelian inheritance and therefore, could not be used for establishing parentage. Conclusion: The possibility of replacing Ms markers with SNP markers for paternity testing in horses was confirmed. However, further research using more samples is necessary.

Evaluation of adenosine triphosphate testing for on-farm cleanliness monitoring compared to microbiological testing in an empty pig farrowing unit

  • Yi, Seung-Won;Cho, Ara;Kim, Eunju;Oh, Sang-Ik;Roh, Jae Hee;Jung, Young-Hun;Choe, Changyong;Yoo, Jae Gyu;Do, Yoon Jung
    • Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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    • v.62 no.5
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    • pp.682-691
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    • 2020
  • Careful cleaning and disinfection of pigpens is essential to prevent disease spread and avoid the resultant economic losses. Hygiene in pigpens is generally evaluated by visual monitoring supplemented with bacteriological monitoring, which includes counting the total aerobic bacteria (TAB) and/or fecal indicator bacteria (FIB). However, these methods present drawbacks such as time and labor requirements. As adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is ubiquitous in all living organisms including microorganisms, this study aimed to directly compare the results of microbial assessment and ATP quantification, and to suggest possible detailed application methods of the ATP test for hygiene evaluation in pigpens of a farrowing unit. Before and after standard cleaning procedures, samples were collected from the floor corner, floor center, and feeding trough of four pigpens at different time points. No FIB were detected and both the TAB and ATP levels were significantly decreased in the floor center area after cleaning. FIB were continuously detected after cleaning and disinfection of the floor corners, and there was no significant ATP level reduction. The feeding trough did not show any significant difference in these values before and after cleaning, indicating insufficient cleaning of this area. The levels of TAB and ATP after cleaning were significantly correlated and the average ATP value was significantly lower in the absence of FIB than in their presence. In the absence of standard references, a more thorough hygiene management could be achieved evenly by supplementing cleaning or disinfection based on the lowest ATP results obtained at the cleanest test site, which in the present study was the floor center. Overall, these results indicate that the on-farm ATP test can be used to determine the cleanliness status, in addition to visual inspection, as an alternative to laboratory culture-based testing for the presence of microorganisms.

Determination of safe levels and toxic levels for feed hazardous materials in broiler chickens: a review

  • Jong Hyuk Kim
    • Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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    • v.65 no.3
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    • pp.490-510
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    • 2023
  • Feed safety is needed to produce and provide safe animal feeds for consumers, animals, and the environment. Although feed safety regulations have been set for each country, there is a lack of clear feed safety regulations for each livestock. Feed safety regulations are mainly focused on heavy metals, mycotoxins, and pesticides. Each country has different safe levels of hazardous materials in diets. Safe levels of hazardous materials in diets are mostly set for mixed diets of general livestock. Although there is a difference in the metabolism of toxic materials among animals, the safe level of feed is not specific for individual animals. Therefore, standardized animal testing methods and toxicity studies for each animal are needed to determine the correct safe and toxic levels of hazardous materials in diets. If this goal is achieved, it will be possible to improve livestock productivity, health, and product safety by establishing appropriate feed safety regulations. It will also provide an opportunity to secure consumer confidence in feed and livestock products. Therefore, it is necessary to establish a scientific feed safety evaluation system suitable for each country's environment. The chance of outbreaks of new hazardous materials is increasing. Thus, to set up appropriate toxic levels or safe levels in feed, various toxicity methods have been used to determine toxic levels of hazardous materials for humans and animals. Appropriate toxic testing methods should be developed and used to accurately set up and identify toxicity and safe levels in food and feed.

Novel Convenient Method to Determine Wettability and Dispersibility of Dairy Powders

  • Lee, Jeae;Chai, Changhoon;Park, Dong June;Lim, Kwangsei;Imm, Jee-Young
    • Food Science of Animal Resources
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    • v.34 no.6
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    • pp.852-857
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    • 2014
  • This study was carried out to develop a simple, convenient, and reproducible testing device to determine wettability and dispersibility of dairy powders. The testing device consists of a sieve ($150{\mu}m$) attached to a sample chamber, sensors mounted on a supporting body and a main control unit containing a display panel. The sensors detect the difference in electrical resistance between air and water. A timer is automatically triggered by the sensor when the bottom of sample-loaded chamber contacts water in the petri dish. Wettability and dispersibility of commercial skim milk powders (SMPs) produced at different heating strengths (low-, medium-, and high-heat SMP) are compared using the new testing device. Wettability of the SMPs were correlated with particle size and are found to increase in the order of medium-, low-, and high-heat SMP regardless of the amount of sample tested. Dispersibility of SMPs showed the same trend and high heat-SMP which has the smallest particle size resulted in the lowest dispersibility. Unlike existing methods, the new testing device can determine both wettability and dispersibility of powders and successfully detected differences among the samples.