Reuse of laboratory animals in experiments: A statistical approach

Abstract

Background: Large numbers of animals are used in the screening of drug experiments in search of an active lead compound. Oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) studies are most popular to identify the anti-hyperglycemic compounds. In this study we have explored the possibility: ‘can the animals used as controls in OGTT experiments be reused again’. Materials and Methods: Fifty Sprague-Dawley strains of albino rats, which were used once as untreated control group in anti-hyperglycemic screening studies, were divided into 5 groups. Standard protocol of OGTT studies. Blood as sample has been used for glucose profiling. Data was analysed using ‘within error one way analysis of variance’ followed by Newman Keuls test for individual comparisons. The level of significance 0.05 was used to define p-value. Results: The daily blood glucose level was not significantly different between groups. However, the glucose level of 10 week old animals were significantly higher (P<0.01) than the fresh animals group. Conclusion: Results in this study revealed that the reuse of animals should not be preferred in OGTT experiments.