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Sam G, Stenos J, Graves SR, Rehm BHA. Q fever immunology: the quest for a safe and effective vaccine. NPJ Vaccines 2023; 8:133. [PMID: 37679410 PMCID: PMC10484952 DOI: 10.1038/s41541-023-00727-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/02/2023] [Accepted: 08/24/2023] [Indexed: 09/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Q fever is an infectious zoonotic disease, caused by the Gram-negative bacterium Coxiella burnetii. Transmission occurs from livestock to humans through inhalation of a survival form of the bacterium, the Small Cell Variant, often via handling of animal parturition products. Q fever manifests as an acute self-limiting febrile illness or as a chronic disease with complications such as vasculitis and endocarditis. The current preventative human Q fever vaccine Q-VAX poses limitations on its worldwide implementation due to reactogenic responses in pre-sensitized individuals. Many strategies have been undertaken to develop a universal Q fever vaccine but with little success to date. The mechanisms of the underlying reactogenic responses remain only partially understood and are important factors in the development of a safe Q fever vaccine. This review provides an overview of previous and current experimental vaccines developed for use against Q fever and proposes approaches to develop a vaccine that establishes immunological memory while eliminating harmful reactogenic responses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gayathri Sam
- Centre for Cell Factories and Biopolymers, Griffith Institute for Drug Discovery, Griffith University, Brisbane, QLD, 4111, Australia
| | - John Stenos
- Australian Rickettsial Reference Laboratory, University Hospital, Geelong, VIC, 3220, Australia
| | - Stephen R Graves
- Australian Rickettsial Reference Laboratory, University Hospital, Geelong, VIC, 3220, Australia
- Elizabeth Macarthur Agricultural Institute, NSW Department of Primary Industries, Menangle, NSW, 2567, Australia
| | - Bernd H A Rehm
- Centre for Cell Factories and Biopolymers, Griffith Institute for Drug Discovery, Griffith University, Brisbane, QLD, 4111, Australia.
- Menzies Health Institute Queensland, Griffith University, Gold Coast, QLD, 4222, Australia.
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Weegh N, Zentrich E, Zechner D, Struve B, Wassermann L, Talbot SR, Kumstel S, Heider M, Vollmar B, Bleich A, Häger C. Voluntary wheel running behaviour as a tool to assess the severity in a mouse pancreatic cancer model. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0261662. [PMID: 34941923 PMCID: PMC8699632 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0261662] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/23/2021] [Accepted: 12/08/2021] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Laboratory animals frequently undergo routine experimental procedures such as handling, restraining and injections. However, as a known source of stress, these procedures potentially impact study outcome and data quality. In the present study, we, therefore, performed an evidence-based severity assessment of experimental procedures used in a pancreatic cancer model including surgical tumour induction and subsequent chemotherapeutic treatment via repeated intraperitoneal injections. Cancer cell injection into the pancreas was performed during a laparotomy under general anaesthesia. After a four-day recovery phase, mice received either drug treatment (galloflavin and metformin) or the respective vehicle substances via daily intraperitoneal injections. In addition to clinical scoring, an automated home-cage monitoring system was used to assess voluntary wheel running (VWR) behaviour as an indicator of impaired well-being. After surgery, slightly elevated clinical scores and minimal body weight reductions, but significantly decreased VWR behaviour were observed. During therapy, body weight declined in response to chemotherapy, but not after vehicle substance injection, while VWR activity was decreased in both cases. VWR behaviour differed between treatment groups and revealed altered nightly activity patterns. In summary, by monitoring VWR a high impact of repeated injections on the well-being of mice was revealed and substance effects on well-being were distinguishable. However, no differences in tumour growth between treatment groups were observed. This might be due to the severity of the procedures uncovered in this study, as exaggerated stress responses are potentially confounding factors in preclinical studies. Finally, VWR was a more sensitive indicator of impairment than clinical scoring in this model.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nora Weegh
- Institute for Laboratory Animal Science, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany
| | - Eva Zentrich
- Institute for Laboratory Animal Science, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany
| | - Dietmar Zechner
- Rudolf-Zenker-Institute of Experimental Surgery, University Medical Center, Rostock, Germany
| | - Birgitta Struve
- Institute for Laboratory Animal Science, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany
| | - Laura Wassermann
- Institute for Laboratory Animal Science, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany
| | - Steven Roger Talbot
- Institute for Laboratory Animal Science, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany
| | - Simone Kumstel
- Rudolf-Zenker-Institute of Experimental Surgery, University Medical Center, Rostock, Germany
| | - Miriam Heider
- Institute for Laboratory Animal Science, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany
| | - Brigitte Vollmar
- Rudolf-Zenker-Institute of Experimental Surgery, University Medical Center, Rostock, Germany
| | - André Bleich
- Institute for Laboratory Animal Science, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany
| | - Christine Häger
- Institute for Laboratory Animal Science, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany
- * E-mail:
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Zentrich E, Talbot SR, Bleich A, Häger C. Automated Home-Cage Monitoring During Acute Experimental Colitis in Mice. Front Neurosci 2021; 15:760606. [PMID: 34744621 PMCID: PMC8570043 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2021.760606] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/18/2021] [Accepted: 10/01/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
For ethical and legal reasons it is necessary to assess the severity of procedures in animal experimentation. To estimate the degree of pain, suffering, distress or lasting harm, objective methods that provide gradebale parameters need to be tested and validated for various models. In this context, automated home-cage monitoring becomes more important as a contactless, objective, continuous and non-invasive method. The aim of this study was to examine a recently developed large scale automated home-cage monitoring system (Digital Ventilated Cage, DVC®) with regard to the applicability and added value for severity assessment in a frequently used acute colitis mouse model. Acute colitis was induced in female C57BL/6J mice by varying doses of DSS (1.5 and 2.5%), matched controls received water only (0%). Besides DVC® activity monitoring and nest scoring, model specific parameters like body weight, clinical colitis score, and intestinal histo-pathology were used. In a second approach, we questioned whether DVC® can be used to detect an influence of different handling methods on the behavior of mice. Therefore, we compared activity patterns of mice that underwent tunnel vs. tail handling for routine animal care procedures. In DSS treated mice, disease specific parameters confirmed induction of a graded colitis. In line with this, DVC® revealed reduced activity in these animals. Furthermore, the system displayed stress-related activity changes due to the restraining procedures necessary in DSS-treatment groups. However, no significant differences between tunnel vs. tail handling procedures were detected. For further analysis of the data, a binary classifier was applied to categorize two severity levels (burdened vs. not burdened) based on activity and body weight. In all DSS-treatment groups data points were allocated to the burdened level, in contrast to a handling group. The fraction of "burdened" animals reflected well the course of colitis development. In conclusion, automated home-cage monitoring by DVC® enabled severity assessment in a DSS-induced colitis model equally well as gold standard clinical parameters. In addition, it revealed changes in activity patterns due to routine handling procedures applied in experimental model work. This indicates that large scale home-cage monitoring can be integrated into routine severity assessment in biomedical research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eva Zentrich
- Institute for Laboratory Animal Science, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany
| | - Steven R Talbot
- Institute for Laboratory Animal Science, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany
| | - André Bleich
- Institute for Laboratory Animal Science, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany
| | - Christine Häger
- Institute for Laboratory Animal Science, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany
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Lang A, Schulz A, Ellinghaus A, Schmidt-Bleek K. Osteotomy models - the current status on pain scoring and management in small rodents. Lab Anim 2018; 50:433-441. [PMID: 27909193 DOI: 10.1177/0023677216675007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/07/2023]
Abstract
Fracture healing is a complex regeneration process which produces new bone tissue without scar formation. However, fracture healing disorders occur in approximately 10% of human patients and cause severe pain and reduced quality of life. Recently, the development of more standardized, sophisticated and commercially available osteosynthesis techniques reflecting clinical approaches has increased the use of small rodents such as rats and mice in bone healing research dramatically. Nevertheless, there is no standard for pain assessment, especially in these species, and consequently limited information regarding the welfare aspects of osteotomy models. Moreover, the selection of analgesics is restricted for osteotomy models since non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are known to affect the initial, inflammatory phase of bone healing. Therefore, opioids such as buprenorphine and tramadol are often used. However, dosage data in the literature are varied. Within this review, we clarify the background of osteotomy models, explain the current status and challenges of animal welfare assessment, and provide an example score sheet including model specific parameters. Furthermore, we summarize current refinement options and present a brief outlook on further 3R research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Annemarie Lang
- Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, Charité-Universitätsmedizin, Berlin, Germany .,Berlin Brandenburg School for Regenerative Therapies, Charité-Universitätsmedizin, Berlin, Germany.,German Rheumatism Research Centre Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Anja Schulz
- German Rheumatism Research Centre Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Agnes Ellinghaus
- Julius Wolff Institute and Center for Musculoskeletal Surgery, Charité-Universitätsmedizin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Katharina Schmidt-Bleek
- Julius Wolff Institute and Center for Musculoskeletal Surgery, Charité-Universitätsmedizin, Berlin, Germany.,Berlin Brandenburg Center for Regenerative Therapies, Charité-Universitätsmedizin, Berlin, Germany
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The power of automated behavioural homecage technologies in characterizing disease progression in laboratory mice: A review. Appl Anim Behav Sci 2015. [DOI: 10.1016/j.applanim.2014.11.018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
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