Received: 27 February 2018
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Accepted: 23 April 2018
DOI: 10.1002/ame2.12014
AFLAS FOCUS
Preliminary survey on animal research statistics in Sri Lanka from 2010 onwards Chedliya Ishak Sahabdeen1 | Mangala Gunatilake2 1
Human Genetics Unit, Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo, Colombo, Sri Lanka 2
Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo, Colombo, Sri Lanka
Abstract Background: Animal research is conducted in many countries across the world. However, concepts of recording and reporting the numbers of animals used vary. In the context of animal studies, inadequate reporting raises both ethical and scientific
Correspondence Mangala Gunatilake, Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Email:
[email protected]
concerns. Sri Lanka has yet to publish data on animal research statistics. Methods: The objective of this survey was to present the number and types of vertebrate animals used for research and establish the species used for different types of research studies. All facilities/personnel engaged in animal research were invited to participate and a web-based survey was performed. Results: Based on the data collected, rats and mice were the most widely used animals in Sri Lankan laboratories. Of these, the most reported model were rats of the Wistar strain (42%) and mice of the BALB/c strain (15%). The highest number of animals used in laboratory research occurred in 2011, with a 12% decrease observed in 2012. KEYWORDS
animal research, Sri Lanka, statistics, survey, Wistar rats
1 | INTRODUCTION
Sri Lanka has yet to publish data on animal research statistics. The Animal Welfare Act drafted to protect animals has not yet been
Animal research, one of the most controversial areas of science, is
endorsed officially by the Government of Sri Lanka. The “Guidelines
conducted in many countries across the world.1 However, concepts
for Ethics Review of Research Proposals Involving Animals in Sri
of recording and reporting the numbers of animals used vary. In the
Lanka” published in 2009 serves as the only manual for the practical
context of animal studies, inadequate reporting raises both ethical
management of research involving animals and the protection of ani-
and scientific concerns.2,3 Potential use of study outcomes to assess
mals.5 Our objective in initiating a survey on animal research statis-
preclinical evidence in humans can be restricted by inadequate
tics in Sri Lanka was to benefit local biomedical knowledge by
reporting and the translation of experimental results to human
recording the number of animals that are being used in research and
research is hindered.
the type of research using animals conducted in the past. The data
The number of animals used in laboratory-based research rises
gathered from this kind of study can assist in the improvement of
and falls over time and many factors such as the standard of biomed-
existing guidelines and evaluation of future research proposals. Pre-
ical activity within a country, popular areas of research, alterations to
sently, universities and research institutions have their own Ethics
legislation at home and overseas, outsourcing of research to and
Review Committees (ERCs), which review protocols for research
from other countries, and new technologies contribute to this.1,4
studies based on humans, animals or both together. The ERCs also
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes. © 2018 The Authors. Animal Models and Experimental Medicine published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of The Chinese Association for Laboratory Animal Sciences Animal Model Exp Med. 2018;1:79–81.
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ISHAK SAHABDEEN
bear the additional responsibility of monitoring the role of animal
1400
care within the approved research studies.
1200
Our study has social and scientific value too as the first study of
1000
its kind. It is a descriptive study designed according to standard
800
operating procedures followed both internationally and locally to
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ensure that scientific validity is maintained. Conducting this survey regularly will establish if the number of animals used in research rises or falls over time. The statistics can be used to improve policies
1189 974
400
1056
AND
GUNATILAKE
1008
488
466
200 0
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
on animal use in scientific work and provide information to the scientific community, animal welfare organizations and the general public. They can also assist efforts to implement policies involving the
F I G U R E 1 Reported number of animals used in research from 2010 to 2015
3Rs concept for protection of animals in research.6 In this context,
3%
our objective in this study was to present the total number and type
8%
Wistar rats
5%
of vertebrate animals used for research in Sri Lanka. Ethics approval was obtained from the Ethics Review Committee of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo (EC/16/039).
BALB/c mice
5% 42% 11%
ICR mice Sprague Dawley rats NZ rabbits
2 | METHODS
Guinea pigs
The study was conducted in four stages: document preparation,
Syrian hamster
11%
identification of the survey population, data collection and data anal-
15%
ysis.
Other
2.1 | Document preparation
F I G U R E 2 Species of animals used in laboratory-based research in Sri Lanka from 2010 to 2015
Following drafting of the invitation letter and information sheet, a sur-
those who had conducted experiments on invertebrates as our study
vey questionnaire was prepared using the format in the “Annual Statis-
focused on establishing statistics for vertebrates used in laboratory-
4
tics of Scientific Procedures on Living Animals, Great Britain 2014.”
based experiments. All respondents were affiliated with academic institutions.
2.2 | Identification of the survey population All facilities (n = 21) engaged in animal-based research in the country
2.4 | Data analysis
were contacted and the personnel (n = 112) involved in animal
This process began once the deadline had elapsed. Only data from
experiments at these facilities were invited to participate in this sur-
laboratory animal-based studies were considered for analysis.
vey. These facilities include universities, research institutions and industries. Since the study was open to all facilities that engaged in laboratory animal research, it had representative participant selec-
3 | RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
tion. The participants were contacted privately to ensure privacy. Figure 1 shows the reported number of animals used in research from
2.3 | Data collection
2010 to 2015. For the year 2011, it was reported that 1189 animals of different species were used in laboratory-based research, whereas 488
Invitation letters with the information sheet and questionnaire were
animals were reported for 2010. The increase in 2011 could be due to
directed to relevant establishments via post and email, indicating a
an increase publication of research using animals compared to 2010 or
deadline for researchers to respond. An enclosed postage paid envel-
a rise in the popularity of using animal models to test for toxicology and
ope was provided.
tropical diseases in Sri Lanka. A decrease was observed in 2012, with
Web-based data collection was also conducted to ensure that
rises in 2013 and 2014. Possible reasons for the decrease reported in
the survey was more comprehensive. Additionally, this covered data
2012 were the lobbying of animal rights activists, a decrease in funding
provided by researchers who did not get involved in the survey but
of research or inaccurate reporting of the number of animals that were
had published their study details in open access journals or other
used in research. The lower figure reported for 2015 was probably
accessible forms of dissemination.
because some studies covering this period had yet to be published at
Of the 112 invitations sent to 21 different facilities, only 12 per-
the time of this survey. Figure 2 outlines the different species of ani-
sonnel responded. Of these 12 respondents, we had to screen out
mals that have been used in laboratory-based animal research. Wistar
ISHAK SAHABDEEN
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GUNATILAKE
rats constituted 42% of the total number of animals used from 2010 to 2015 in the survey, and BALB/c mice, 15%. Based on the collected data, the most widely used laboratorybased animals in Sri Lankan research were rats and mice. The majority of the animals were purchased from the Medical Research Institute in Colombo, as they are the main supplier of different animal models, but some institutions breed specific strains of animals at their own establishments eg Sprague-Dawley rat model breeds at the animal house of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo. For certain types of research, animals were purchased from local breeders. Torque monkeys (Macaca sinica) were caught from the wild with the approval of the Department of Wildlife of Sri Lanka. Toxicological and physiological studies were the most popular types of research studies conducted using animals. The animals considered under the ‘Other’ category include torque monkeys (Macaca sinica) used in malaria research, amphibians, fish, birds, etc. In terms of limitations of the study, we did not have a high response rate from researchers to a majority of the data was gathered using a web-based survey. In addition to this, some articles surveyed did not
CONFLICT OF INTEREST None. REFERENCES 1. Speaking of Research. US Statistics. 2015. http://speakingofresearch.c om/facts/statistics/ 2. Dhai A. The research ethics evolution: from Nuremberg to Helsinki. S Afr Med J. 2014;104:178-180. 3. The ARRIVE Guidelines. Animal Research: Reporting of In Vivo Experiments. 2010. https://www.nc3rs.org.uk/sites/default/files/docume nts/Guidelines/NC3Rs%20ARRIVE%20Guidelines%202013.pdf 4. Annual Statistics of Scientific Procedures on Living Animals, Great Britain. 2014. House of Commons. https://www.gov.uk/government/sta tistics/statistics-of-scientific-procedures-on-living-animals-great-brita in-2014 5. Guidelines for Ethics Review of Research Proposals Involving Animals in Sri Lanka. In Vajira HW, Dissanayake MG, Thureisingham C, eds. Forum of Ethics Review Committees of Sri Lanka and Ethics Review Committee, Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo. 2009. 6. Russell WMS, Burch RL. The Principles of Humane Experimental Technique. London: Methuen; 1959.
specify the exact number of animals that were used in a study.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
How to cite this article: Sahabdeen CI, Gunatilake M. Preliminary survey on animal research statistics in Sri Lanka
The researchers Drs C. I. Clayton, T. Eswaramohan, Manjula Magam-
from 2010 onwards. Animal Model Exp Med. 2018;1:79-81.
age, Indunil Pathirana, Sisira Pathirana, S. A. S. C. Senanayake and
https://doi.org/10.1002/ame2.12014
Ms R. Dewasuvendra and Ms K. K. G. D. U. L. Kariyawasam contributed with relevant information and made this survey a success.
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