SETTING UP AN INSTITUTIONAL ANIMAL CARE AND USE COMMITEE AT "DR. RICARDO GUTIERREZ " CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL

GULIN, JEN; GRINSPON R.P; GARCÍA-BOURNISSEN F; DE MATTEO, ; CRUZ, M; NOWICKI,S

Mar del Plata

Congreso; SAIC; 2016

Sociedad Argentina de Investigación clínica

Laboratory animals are an invaluable tool for biomedical research asmuch of the current scientific knowledge is obtained from preclinical studies.However, appropriate laboratory animal use entails an ethical and socialresponsibility, considering alternatives to animal employment, using all availablestrategies to reduce animal use and refining procedures to avoid or reduce painand stress.Regulations regarding care and use of laboratory animals are increasing,requiring protocol approval to publish articles in refereed journals and to seekfunding from national and international organizations.Currently, there are two CONICET Research Units at "Dr. RicardoGutiérrez" Children's Hospital (HNRG), and several research groups useanimals in their projects. Hence, establishment of an Institutional AnimalsCare and Use Committee (IACUC) was proposed to evaluate the protocols thatinclude the use of animal species along with the institutional care and use of laboratoryanimals program.The IACUC is formerly composed of professionals from differentbiomedical areas such as physicians, biochemists, veterinarian and laboratoryanimal technologists. The activities for self-training and institutional trainingincluded: seminars related to 3Rs principles (replacement, reduction andrefinement), bioethics and legislation, experimental design and sample size determinationand protocol evaluation provided by IACUC members and special guests. Besides, aform for submitting protocols was prepared and is available on-line at theHospital?s Education and Research Committee (CODEI) website.Since its establishment, in March 2016, the IACUC has met 10 times,evaluated four protocols and given one institutional seminar about properprotocol submission.  It is expected that the IACUC work will integrate with HNRG? professionalsand researchers, CODEI and Ethics Committee focusing on teaching and continuoustraining for Institution? users and researchers, contributing to obtainreliable and repeatable results within an ethical framework ensuring thewelfare of laboratory animals involved.