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Animal Defenders International (ADI) Releases Information on Primate Research in US

Posted on: Friday, 1 September 2006, 21:00 CDT

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- As part of International Primate Day -- in which Animal Defenders International (ADI) has called for an international ban on the use of primates in research -- the group has released information detailing the use of primates in research projects across the US. The following information has been excerpted from abstracted research papers obtained by ADI. These are just a few examples of why ADI claims primate research is inaccurate and unethical.

Chimps still used in HIV tests despite crucial species differences

Researchers in Maryland used 10 chimpanzees in an experiment comparing two types of HIV vaccine, despite it being known that chimps respond very differently to humans when infected with HIV. The chimps were confined for over 5 months and would have suffered terrible social deprivation and a lack of stimulation, as well as possible toxic effects of the drugs. The study only compared the types of vehicle a vaccine could use, rather than a vaccine itself, was not even attempting to identify an effective HIV vaccine, and the results cannot be safely extrapolated to humans.

Location(s): Vaccine Branch and Biostatistics and Data Management Section, National Cancer Institute, Maryland Department of Surgery, Laboratory for AIDS Vaccine Research & Development, Duke University Medical Center, North Carolina Advanced BioScience Laboratories, Inc., Maryland Chiron Corp., California University of Louisiana at Lafayette, New Iberia Research Center, Louisiana Department of Virology and Immunology, Southwest Federation for Biomedical Research, Texas Chimps die in "communication tests"

56 chimpanzees were used in experiments in Atlanta to examine "manual gesturing" and "reaching" supposedly to provide clues on how human communication might have evolved. After undergoing the gesture and reaching tests, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scans were used to examine the animal's brain. But before this could occur nine died -- the research paper indicates unintentionally.

There were no medical or health-related reasons whatsoever for undertaking these experiments, simply an academic a desire to learn more about how human communication might have evolved -- it was, in effect, an anthropological, not medical, exercise. It seems baffling why a non-invasive and supposedly non-lethal experiment should have a 15% mortality rate.

Location(s): Division of Psychobiology, Yerkes National Primate Research Centre, Emory University, Atlanta, USA Department of Psychology, Berry College, Mt Berry, Georgia, USA Department of Psychology, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina, USA Pregnant monkeys deliberately subjected to noise and stress

Pregnant rhesus monkeys were subjected to stress by bursts of noise at 110 decibels in order to study the effects on their unborn offspring. Every day, for 10 minutes, pregnant females were moved to a darkened room in a small box measuring 0.5 x 0.3 x 0.4 m. There, a computer program randomly broadcast three 110-decibel beeps, each lasting one second. This was repeated five times a week for a period of 6 weeks. The monkeys subjected to this were either newly or heavily pregnant -- to coincide with critical periods of nervous system and gastrointestinal tract development. The sole reason for the noise was to cause distress -- to give an idea of the loudness of the sounds to which they were exposed, 110 decibels is roughly on par with standing close to a chainsaw, or to a commercial jet taking off, or to being inside a particularly noisy nightclub. Currently in the US, even employees subjected to sustained noise levels as low as 85 decibels must be issued with and required to use hearing protectors. Indeed, as the researchers pointed out, their distress was such that even their offspring's guts revealed marked abnormalities in bacterial composition.

After the 6-week 'stress period,' the females were left undisturbed in their home cages until their infants were born naturally. Stool samples were taken at 2 days of age, and at 2, 8, 16, and 24 weeks, to determine the levels and variety of naturally occurring bacteria and fungi. Based on this, the researchers concluded that 'moderate' disturbance during pregnancy was sufficient to alter the intestinal 'microflora' in the newborn infant. These alterations, they argued, could result in greater susceptibility to infection and even suggest a link between certain adult diseases and fetal life.

It is also worth asking what benefits this work could have on human health and behavior. And the answer appears to be very little -- because stress, unlike other lifestyle factors that might impinge on infant development such as smoking, drinking or taking drugs -- is universally and instinctively shunned. Even in cases where pregnant women fail to take necessary steps to protect themselves and their infant from stress, there is already plenty of evidence to suggest that prenatal stress may have deleterious effects on child health. Subjecting innocent pregnant monkeys to intense bursts of noise, merely to be able to postulate on yet another nasty side-effect of prenatal stress, is as useless to humanity as it is acutely distressful to the animals involved.

Location(s): Harlow Primate Laboratory, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, USA. Further information contact ADI Press Office: Allison Tuffrey Jones or Abigail Girling Tel: 020 8563 0250 / 020 8846 9777. Mob: 07785 552548 Email: pr@ad-international.org To contact ADI's US office, please call 415-876-2344.

Animal Defenders International

CONTACT: Allison Tuffrey Jones, 020-8563-0250, or Abigail Girling,020-8846-9777, both of Animal Defenders International, mobile, 07785 552548,or pr@ad-international.org

Web site: http://www.ad-international.org/

Source: PRNewswire

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