Literature search strategies to comply with institutional animal care and use committee review requirements.

Under the US Animal Welfare Act, principal investigators who propose to use animals in their research must demonstrate that they have considered alternatives to potentially painful or distressful procedures when submitting applications to Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees (IACUCs). IACUCs requires that applicants conduct a current literature search to determine if alternatives are available to substitute the proposed animal use and, if the proposed study involves pain or distress, that more humane procedures, as they are described in the literature, be considered. This paper suggests literature search strategies that can be considered for use in order to comply with this IACUC requirement.

The foraging ball as a quick and easy enrichment device for pigs (Sus scrofa).

Providing research pigs with enrichment objects can encourage species-typical behavior such as rooting and foraging. The authors gave pigs hard plastic 'foraging balls' that resembled enrichment devices commonly used for nonhuman primates. Holes were custom-drilled into the balls, and animal caretakers filled them with palatable food items such as jellybeans, unsalted peanuts, cereal, Beggin' Strips, primate biscuits and dog biscuits.

Immunomodulators plus antibiotics delay preterm delivery after experimental intraamniotic infection in a nonhuman primate model.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine whether treatment with ampicillin together with dexamethasone and indomethacin delays preterm birth that is induced by intraamniotic group B Streptococcus in a nonhuman primate model.

Study Design: After contraction onset that was induced by group B Streptococcus (10(6) colony-forming units/mL), chronically instrumented rhesus macaques received either no treatment (controls; n = 6); ampicillin (n = 4); or ampicillin + dexamethasone + indomethacin (n = 5). Outcomes included the interval from contraction onset until delivery and concentrations of amniotic fluid inflammatory mediators.

Preterm labor is induced by intraamniotic infusions of interleukin-1beta and tumor necrosis factor-alpha but not by interleukin-6 or interleukin-8 in a nonhuman primate model.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to determine the relative contributions of individual proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines to the triggering of preterm labor.

Study Design: Eighteen chronically instrumented pregnant rhesus monkeys at 135 +/- 3 days gestation (term = 167 days) received 1 of 5 intraamniotic infusions: (1) interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta) (10 microg; n = 5), (2) tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) (10-100 microg; n = 5), (3) IL-6 (20 microg twice a day; n = 2), (4) IL-8 (20 microg twice a day; n = 2), and (5) saline control (n = 4). Primary study outcomes were the mean uterine hourly contraction area (mm Hg x s/h) in 24 hours during peak response to cytokine infusion (all groups) and the interval from cytokine infusion until labor onset (IL-1beta, IL-6, and IL-8 groups).

Prospective study of fetal DNA in serum and disease activity during pregnancy in women with inflammatory arthritis.

Objective: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) usually improves during pregnancy and recurs postpartum. Fetal cells and cell-free DNA reach the maternal circulation during normal pregnancy. The present study investigated dynamic changes in levels of fetal DNA in serum from women with RA and inflammatory arthritis during and after pregnancy to test the hypothesis that the levels of circulating fetal DNA correlate with arthritis improvement.

Gastrointestinal graft-versus-host disease in recipients of autologous hematopoietic stem cells: incidence, risk factors, and outcome.

Graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) is seen in skin, intestinal mucosa, and liver after autologous stem cell transplantation. We reviewed 681 consecutive patients to estimate the probability of gastrointestinal (GI) GVHD, response to treatment, risk factors for development, and effect on survival. GI GVHD was defined by persistent symptoms, mucosal abnormalities at endoscopy, and histology showing apoptotic crypt cells with or without lymphoid infiltrates.

USDA perspective on environmental enrichment for animals.

This article provides a brief historical background of the events and circumstances that led to the 1985 Animal Welfare Act (AWA) amendments. It describes the development of the regulations promulgated by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) in 1991 as a result of these amendments, the reasoning given for the proposals, and the revisions that were made during the process. Information is included on USDA implementation of the regulations regarding exercise for dogs and environmental enhancement for nonhuman primates.

The genetic contribution towards preterm delivery.

Indirect evidence supports a possible genetic predisposition towards preterm birth. The recurrence of spontaneous preterm delivery in individual women, families and ethnic groups suggests a long-acting aetiology, consistent with a genetic factor. Genetic contributions from both mother and fetus probably play a role in determining gestational length.

Adverse outcomes after preterm labor are associated with tumor necrosis factor-alpha polymorphism -863, but not -308, in mother-infant pairs.

Objective: Two single-base polymorphisms of the tumor necrosis factor-alpha gene (TNF-alpha) at positions -863 and -308 are associated with variation in production of TNF-alpha (TNF-alpha). TNF-alpha genotypes were tested for association with adverse outcomes in mother-infant pairs with preterm labor.

Study Design: We analyzed a cohort of 118 mother-infant pairs with preterm labor before 34 weeks' gestation.

Risk factors for syngeneic graft-versus-host disease after adult hematopoietic cell transplantation.

Syngeneic graft-versus-host disease (sGVHD) has been described after hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) but remains poorly defined. We retrospectively reviewed adult syngeneic HCTs at our center (1980-2002) for sGVHD to investigate incidence, morbidity, and risk factors with a primary focus on parity. Among 119 transplantations, there were 21 cases of biopsy-proven sGVHD.

Microchimerism: an investigative frontier in autoimmunity and transplantation.

Recent studies indicate cells transfer between fetus and mother during pregnancy and can persist in both decades later. The presence within one individual of a small population of cells from another genetically distinct individual is referred to as microchimerism. Naturally acquired microchimerism has recently been investigated in autoimmune diseases, including scleroderma, thyroiditis, primary biliary cirrhosis, Sjögren syndrome, systemic lupus, dermatomyositis, and neonatal lupus.

A canine socialization and training program at the National Institutes of Health.

Well-socialized and obedient dogs are easier to handle and may make better research models. The authors describe the program they have implemented at the NIH, which has benefited both the animals and their caretakers.

Male DNA in female donor apheresis and CD34-enriched products.

Increased risk of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) has been described in recipients of hematopoietic stem cell transplantations when the donor is a parous woman. Cells from prior pregnancies are now known to persist in women and could contribute to GVHD. We asked whether male DNA (presumed fetal microchimerism) is present in apheresis products of female donors.

Interleukin-18 in the plasma of women with preeclampsia.

Objective: Interleukin-18 (IL-18) is a proinflammatory cytokine capable of stimulating interferon gamma and tumor necrosis factor-alpha production. Our purpose was to determine whether abnormal levels of IL-18 in maternal plasma correlate with the diagnosis of preeclampsia.

Study Design: A case control study design was used to enroll 61 patients: controls (n = 31) and preeclamptic women (n = 30).