Book Review

Abstract

Handbook of Laboratory Animal Science. Vol. I. Essential principles and practices. Vol. II. Animal models. Second edition. Eds.: Jann Hau and Gerald L. Van Hoosier Jr. CRC Press 2003, Boca Raton, London, New York, 2003. 34 chapters, 825 pages, 63 authors. The first edition of the CRC Handbook of Laboratory Animal Science was published in 1994. The present second edition has been published in 2003 and includes two volumes: Vol. I –Essential principles and practices and Vol. II –Animal models. Most of the chapters in the first edition were written by Scandinavian and European experts. With this revised book, the editors enlarged the group of authors and included many eminent experts, in particular from North America and Scandinavia. The editors of this second edition, Professor Jann Hau and Professor Gerald Van Hoosier are both professors in Comparative Medicine, at the University of Uppsala, Sweden, and at the University of Washington, Seattle, WA, respectively. Vol. I on essential principles and practices has 45 authors from Europe and North America. The majority of European authors come from Scandinavia. The volume includes 22 chapters in 556 pages. Vol. II on animal models includes a general chapter on animal models and 11 major areas of animal models. The models are written by 18 authors from Scandinavia and the US. Thus, the Scandinavian impact on the present edition of the handbook is considerable, demonstrating that Scandinavian laboratory animal science has been at a very high level for many years. It is very useful that there are two volumes of this book. The first volume covers essential principles and practices, which are important topics for all involved in work with laboratory animals. The second volume is a more specialised volume for those conducting laboratory animal studies with animal models. This probably means that the first volume is targeted primarily to pre- and postgraduate students as teaching material for courses in laboratory animal science, whereas the second volume is targeted to those specialised in work with animal models. Among the many important chapters in Vol. 1, special attention from a pharmacological and toxicological point of view should be paid to the following chapters: 1) “Laboratory animal facilities and equipment for conventional, barrier and containment housing systems”, 2) “Common non-surgical techniques and procedures”, 3) “Surgery: Basic principles and procedures”, 4) “Experimental design and statistical analysis”, 5) “Laboratory animal analgesia, anaesthesia and euthanasia”, 6) “Welfare assessment and humane endpoints”, 7) “Animal research ethics” and 8) “Laboratory animal allergy”. Among the 12 chapters in Vol. II on animal models, pharmacologists and toxicologists should pay special attention to the chapters on 1) “Animal models in pharmacology and toxicology” written by Otto Meyer and myself”, 2) “Animal models in neuroscience”, 3) “Animal models in psychological disorders” and 4) “Diabetic animal models”. There are many textbooks on the topic of laboratory animal science either as general books, books on specific animal species or on groups of animal species (i.e. rodents or non-rodents). There are also many text books on animal models either related to specific groups of drugs (i.e. antibiotics) or specific diseases (i.e. diabetes). This handbook is unique because it provides a general introduction to all these areas and as such is a valuable and broad-spectrum introduction to laboratory animal science and the application of laboratory animal science. This handbook has another major advantage compared to other handbooks, namely that each of the individual chapters focuses on an important subdiscipline of laboratory animal science. The chapters can thus be read and used as stand-alone texts without the necessity of consulting other chapters for information. In many parts of the world, the authorities require that all staff working with laboratory animals must have competence obtained through formal teaching and training programmes. Many universities have established mandatory courses for scientists who wish to use animals in their research. In addition some universities offer specialists' education, often as master courses, for staff training for laboratory animal specialist competence. This handbook will be very useful all over the world as a book to be used for laboratory animal science courses for postgraduate and undergraduate students. It will also be a useful handbook for scientists using animals in their research, university or industry veterinarians and other specialists in laboratory animal science. For graduate students or scientists involved in in vivo pharmacology or in vivo toxicology both volumes of this handbook give valuable information and guidance on proper and up-to-date conduct of pharmacological or toxicological experimentation in animals. This applies also to referees and editorial boards of scientific journals publishing scientific articles based on animal experimentation. In conclusion the first volume of this handbook is very useful as teaching material for courses in laboratory animal science for scientists. It will also meet a need in pharmacological and toxicological laboratories for scientists planning experiments and it presents relevant and easily accessible information on the proper and up-to-date planning and conduct of experiments involving animals. I strongly recommend this handbook not only to teachers and colleagues in in vivo pharmacology or in vivo toxicology but also to teachers and colleagues in many other disciplines where laboratory animals are used in testing and research.