Progress in animal experimentation ethics: a case study from a Brazilian medical school and from the international medical literature

Eduardo Melani Rocha,Mônica Alves,Wanli Ho,Edvaldo Luiz Ramalli Jr

doi:10.1590/s0102-86502012000900012

Abstract

PURPOSE: This study describes in Brazil and in the global biomedical community the time course of the development of animal research welfare guidelines. METHODS: The database of the Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Medicine of Ribeirao Preto (EC/FMRP-USP), Brazil, was surveyed since its inception in 2002 as the regulations became more stringent to provide better protection of animal research welfare at this institution. Medline database was evaluated to identify the number of publications in the period between 1968 and 2008 that used research animals and were in compliance with established ethics guidelines. RESULTS: The EC/FMRP-USP evaluated 979 projects up until 2009. Most of the applications came from Department of Physiology and the most frequently requested species was the rat. In 2004, national research funding agencies started to request prior approval from institutional review ethics committees prior to application review and this requirement became federal law in Brazil in 2008. The analysis of international publications revealed a relative reduction in studies involving research animals (18% in 1968 to 7.5% in 2008). CONCLUSIONS: The present work showed that in the last four decades major changes occurred in the guidelines dictating use of research animals occurred and they are being adopted by developing countries. Moreover, animal welfare concern in the scientific community preceded the introduction of journal guidelines for this purpose. Furthermore, in Brazil it was anticipated that laws were needed to protect animal research welfare from being not upheld.

Highlights

For many centuries extending back to a time nearly twelve thousand years that predates written records when agriculture and animal domestication started, animals have been used for research by humans from different cultures
Extremist organizations have come into existence that are strongly opposed to the continued use of animals for biomedical research in the laboratory
In the nineteenth century in the United Kingdom, emerging public concern about the ethical use of animals resulted in the establishment of legal guidelines that defined procedures to be implemented protecting them from being used in an abusive manner

Summary

Introduction

For many centuries extending back to a time nearly twelve thousand years that predates written records when agriculture and animal domestication started, animals have been used for research by humans from different cultures Their usage provided answers to questions pertaining to health and welfare. The local Animal Research Ethical Committee was created in 2002 (http://www.fmrp.usp.br/cetea)[10], following guidelines of “Colégio Brasileiro de Experimentação Animal” (COBEA), which recently changed its name to “Sociedade Brasileira de Ciência de Animal de Laboratório”, SBCal (http://www.cobea.org.br)[11]. This committee was created six years ahead of the establishment of a Brazilian Animal Welfare Research legal code. A case study from a brazilian medical school and from the international medical literature

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusions