Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Resource
  • Published:

A retrospective review of postapproval monitoring at a large academic institution

Abstract

Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees (IACUCs) are federally mandated to ensure the welfare of animals used in research, testing and teaching. An IACUC must oversee institutional animal care and use programs and promote compliance with all regulations and policies. Postapproval monitoring (PAM) is one administrative tool that an IACUC can implement to help fulfill its federal and societal responsibility. Here, the authors describe the PAM program at a large academic institution, considering the program's accomplishments and how the program has changed since its inception. The authors also provide a retrospective analysis of compliance records during the first 10 y of the program, which demonstrate improved compliance following initiation of PAM.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1
Figure 2: Annual compliance percentage during 2005–2014, including and excluding self-reported adverse events.
Figure 3: Odds of compliance during 2005–2014 as observed in PAM records or predicted using a logistic regression model.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Bayne, K.A.L. & Turner, P.V. Laboratory Animal Welfare (Academic, London, 2014).

    Google Scholar 

  2. Institute for Laboratory Animal Research. Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals 8th edn. (National Academies Press, Washington, DC, 2011).

  3. Interagency Research Animal Committee. U.S. Government Principles for the Utilization and Care of Vertebrate Animals Used in Testing, Research and Training (Office of Science and Technology Policy, Washington, DC, 1985).

  4. Russell, W.M.S. & Burch, R.L. The Principles of Humane Experimental Technique (Methuen, London, 1959).

    Google Scholar 

  5. Public Health Service. Policy on Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals (US Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, DC, 1986; amended, 2002).

  6. Animal Welfare Act Regulations 9 CFR. Chapter 1, Subchapter A, Part 2.

  7. Banks, R.E. & Norton, J.N. A sample postapproval monitoring program in academia. ILAR J. 49, 402–418 (2008).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Lowman, R.P. The institutional official and postapproval monitoring: the view from 10,000 feet. ILAR J. 49, 379–387 (2008).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Klein, H.J. & Bayne, K.A. Establishing a culture of care, conscience, and responsibility: addressing the improvement of scientific discovery and animal welfare through science-based performance standards. ILAR J. 48, 3–11 (2007).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Dale, W.E. Postapproval monitoring and the role of the compliance office. ILAR J. 49, 393–401 (2008).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Institute of Laboratory Animal Research. Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals 7th edn. (National Academies Press, Washington, DC, 1996).

  12. Duke University Animal Care & Use Program. Policy on Cage Space Requirements for Mice (Duke University, Durham, NC, 2014). http://vetmed.duhs.duke.edu/PDF/Policies/Animal%20Use%20Policies/policy_on_cage_density_requirements.pdf.

  13. National Institutes of Health. Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare: Reporting Noncompliance (National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, 2015). http://grants.nih.gov/grants/olaw/reporting_noncompliance.htm.

  14. Collins, J.G. Postapproval monitoring and the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC). ILAR J. 49, 388–392 (2008).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Stokes, W.S. Humane endpoints for laboratory animals used in regulatory testing. ILAR J. 43, S31–S38 (2002).

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Ullman-Culleré, M.H. & Foltz, C.J. Body condition scoring: a rapid and accurate method for assessing health status in mice. Lab. Anim. Sci. 49, 319–323 (1999).

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Warn, P.A. et al. Infrared body temperature measurement of mice as an early predictor of death in experimental fungal infections. Lab. Anim. 37, 126–131 (2003).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank the Statistical Consulting Center of the Duke University Department of Statistical Science, and particularly Dr. Edwin Iversen, for excellent guidance on statistical analysis of our data. We thank Mr. Michael Gentile and Drs. Laura Hale and Anna Hampton for assistance in editing the manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Deborah A. Vanderford.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Vanderford, D., Doss, S. & Banks, R. A retrospective review of postapproval monitoring at a large academic institution. Lab Anim 44, 395–401 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/laban.856

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/laban.856

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing