Tuesday, 28 February 2012 09:59

Project Start: 3R-alternative methods to improve legally required animal testing Featured

Today test methods for immunological medicinal products are based on animal experiments. With the help of the 3R concept (replacement, reduction and refinement) application and suffering of animals in experiments required by law can be reduced or avoided completely.

The Paul-Ehrlich-Institute, together with the Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut as wells as the training and experimental center of the Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich in Oberschleißheim work in a collaborative project supported by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research with the aim to develop alternative and complementary methods to animal experiments in the field of infectious diseases and immunology, which are associated with intense inflammatory reactions.

Each of the projects investigates the possible use of thermography as a new diagnostic method. The focus of the Friedrich-Loeffler-Institute (FLI) within the project network is to improve the method of antigen production for serological diagnosis of dourine of the horse, which is a notifiable epidemic. Previous animal studies necessary for the proliferation of trypanosomes in rats have to be improved medium-term. In the Longer term it should be replaced by cultivation of the causative pathogen, Trypanosoma equiperdum in cell culture. Furthermore species-specific and cross-reactive antigens have to be identified for improved immunological diagnoses.

Source (in german): http://www.fli.bund.de/