New Study Shows Animals Experience Severe Stress Response at Slightest Contact with Researchers

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http://www.pcrm.org/news/release041118.html

Animal Experiments More Stressful than Previously Recognized

New Study Shows Animals Experience Severe Stress Response at Slightest Contact

with Researchers

WASHINGTON—Mice, rabbits, rats, beagles, geese, and other animals all show

measurable physiological stress responses to routine laboratory procedures that

have been up until now viewed as relatively benign. The findings come in a new

report published in Contemporary Topics in Laboratory Animal Science, based on

an extensive review of the scientific literature by ethologist

Balcombe, Ph.D., of Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM). For

example, a mouse who is picked up and briefly held experiences several

physiological reactions. As stress-response hormones flood the bloodstream, the

mouse exhibits a racing pulse and a spike in blood pressure. These symptoms can

persist for up to an hour after each event. Immune response is also affected. In

rats and mice, the growth of tumors is strongly influenced by how much the

animals are handled. Dr. Balcombe’s paper will appear in the journal’s Autumn

2004 issue, expected in late November.

Until now, humane concerns focused mainly on the experiments themselves. The new

findings suggest that routine procedures, such as blood draws and use of stomach

tubes, are terrifying for animals. “In essence, there is no such thing as a

humane animal experiment,” says Dr. Balcombe. “Fear or panic ensues when the

animal is touched or stuck with a needle.”

The paper, a review of 80 previously published studies, is titled, “Laboratory

Routines Cause Animal Stress,” and focuses on three routine procedures:

handling, blood collection and force-feeding. Independent of the invasive

experiments themselves, these daily routines can cause an animal to experience

elevated bloodstream concentrations of corticosterone, prolactin, glucose, and

epinephrine, all indicators of stress. Impaired immune response has also been

recorded in animals after anxiety-producing contact with lab personnel.

“Research on tumor development, immune function, endocrine and cardiovascular

disorders, neoplasms, developmental defects, and psychological phenomena are

particularly vulnerable to data being contaminated by animals’ stress effects,”

notes Dr. Balcombe.

Dr. Balcombe’s study follows closely a recent paper in the British Medical

Journal, titled “Where Is the Evidence that Animal Research Benefits Humans?”

The authors found that in many cases trials on humans were conducted

concurrently with the animal studies and in other instances, clinical trials

went ahead despite evidence of harm from the animal studies.