3 Rs: Reduction

FDA needs to get with the picture: Bayesian statistical methods could bring clinical (and preclinical) trials into the 21st century.

The authors of this study suggest that a different way of looking at trial design would reduce the number of subjects needed for trials and reduce the risk for those who are used as subjects.

Bayesian statistics overview
Bayesian statistics for the statistically inclined

Shock the primatologist

This study wasn’t published in English, but because it is so freaky, I had to include the abstract! I imagine that this was terrifying and I truly hope that no IACUC would approve such a protocol here.

Citation: [Inguinal lymph nodes of monkeys subjected to 8-days-long immersion in water]
Morfologiia, January 1, 2005; 127(3): 45-7.

Abstract: The morphometric study of cytoarchitecture of the structural and functional components of lymph nodes of male monkeys (Macaca mulatta) aged 4-5 years was performed after 8-days-long immersion in water. Activation of lymphocyte mitotic activity in lymphoid nodules (B-dependent zones) was demonstrated in association with an accumulation of small lymphocytes in them and an increase of macrophage reaction. Accumulation of mature forms of plasma cells was detected in all the structures of lymph nodes. It was also found that 8-days-long immersion in water resulted in remodeling of the vessels of lymph node microcirculatory bed, which was accompanied by changes of the endothelium in blood vessel wall and by disturbances of lymph drainage, that lead to accumulation of lymphocytes in lymph node sinuses.

(Russian language publication)

The eyes have it - Part I

Phototherapy is a common, successful treatment for age-related macular degeneration and other retinal disorders among people. Laser treatment of the affected eye can help patients with such conditions, and the power of the laser treatment and lens employed are calibrated to the unique qualities of each patient’s eye – including axial length. Monkeys naturally have axial lengths shorter than those of people. Despite this, and the fact that there are already human data on this treatment, some still choose to experiment on animals.


Citation: Effect of axial length on laser spot size during photodynamic therapy: an experimental study in monkeys. M Kondo, Y Ito, K Miyata, N Kondo, K Ishikawa, and H Terasaki. Am J Ophthalmol, January 1, 2006; 141(1): 214-5.

Summary of experiment: Authors used some pediatric equipment because of the size of the monkeys' eyes. The authors indicate that they have not treated any patient with an axial length in the range of these monkeys.

“Although we have not performed PDT on patients with very short axial lengths, a reduction of the spot diameter should be considered for such cases.” P. 215

Three monkeys with healthy eyes received the laser treatment. After one week there was an unusually powerful response to the laser, so they cut the eyes out to examine them. Once they figured out how their equations for laser calibration had to be adjusted, they performed the experiment on one additional monkey, cut his eyes out and got the results they expected.

My Notes:

• Procedure tested on these monkeys has already been vetted through a variety of clinical trials in humans.
• Despite existing data on humans treated with phototherapy and their natural variation in axial length, AND the fact that experiments with a model eye have shown that there is an important relationship between axial length and how the eye responds to this specific form of phototherapy, investigators decided to conduct an experiment in monkeys.
• The authors did not indicate whether the animals were killed in addition to having their eyes removed.
• There was very little detail about the methods, as this was a short communication.

Author affiliation:
Department of Ophthalmology, Nagoya University School of Medicine, Nagoya, Japan

Funding acknowledged: Supported by a Grant-in Aid 16591747 (M.K.) and 16390497 (H.T.) from the Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture, Japan

Gorillas go through menopause, too - Science - MSNBC.com

Gorillas go through menopause, too - Science - MSNBC.com

Talk about nonsense!

This AP wire story is receiving broad coverage in the US. They are overlooking some poorly planned science and ethical issues raised as a result of the authors' conclusions and comments.

First of all, they have overlooked the most important consequences of their longevity: Aging gorillas may face many more years - perhaps decades - of suffering in captivity. Inadequate space, inability to perform natural behaviors and other aspects of captivity are detrimental. Many primates imprisoned in zoos must be medicated for depression, self-mutilation and other abnormal behaviors. Instead of wondering whether gorillas have hot-flashes, we should be looking for ways to transform zoos from prisons that breed and trade animals into modern, desperately needed sanctuaries that provide for the well-being of individual animals.

Then there is this:

"The new findings argue against the so-called "grandmother hypothesis," because female gorillas in the wild migrate away from their family groups and don't hang around to care for the grandkids.

Instead of an evolutionary adaptation, menopause could result merely from humans and captive gorillas living longer," Austad said.

The new findings are about hormonal changes in captive gorillas and they have no scientific bearing on the grandmother hypothesis. The information Austad refers to has to do with wild gorillas - and it's not new information. The fact that gorillas emigrate from their natal troops is common knowledge about their natural history - nothing new. Furthermore, it's not the "grandmothers" that leave; once they are old enough to mate, gorillas of both sexes leave the group where they were born. There is no opportunity for grandparenting by either sex, and so gorillas make a poor test case for the grandmother hypothesis. We might as well use fish to study the evolution of long distance running.

If we are just going to use ape social systems as a test of the grandmother hypothesis, we sure don't need any animals in zoos to do it. The only apes who could provide grandmothering are chimpanzees and bonobos. The social systems of other apes (Pongidae and Hylobatidae) necessarily preclude this option.

Quite frankly, Austad's comments seem nonsensical. Evidence of senesence has been detected among a wide variety of species with many different reproductive and parenting strategies. A single functional explanation for menopause across species is unecessary. We would be much better off looking at menopause in the larger context of life-history than paying big bucks for gorilla hormone tests.

It's disappointing that our government paid for this study at all. Given the varied experience of menopause across cultures and among individual women, the precise nature of hormonal and behavioral changes during menopause in captive gorillas is unlikely to provide information useful in a health care context. If taxpayer money is going to be spent on gorillas, it should be to alleviate their suffering in captivity or to protect and study these highly endangered creatures in the wild, not flushed down the drain on useless zoo animal "models" of aging.

Humans do not understand mirror reflections, say researchers

Humans do not understand mirror reflections, say researchers

Given that the "mirror test" is often used to test self-awareness in nonhuman animals, I think this study is very interesting. Perhaps some "failure" by animals can be chalked up to their difficulty understanding the same concepts that the undoubtedly self-aware human subjects have trouble with? Dr. Bertamini's quote about the virtual worls we see in mirrors (at the end of the article) should offer us a reason to re-examine the mirror test as a tool for understanding self-awareness.

If the "passing" response on the mirror test requires more than basic self-awareness - say some complex philosophical view of the world that perplexes many people - then we need to work harder to find a test that can help us probe self-awareness more reliably.