American Physiological Society Committee to Develop an Aps Resource Book for the Design of Animal Exercise Protocols

iv v PREFACE This resource book was developed to provide information on generally accepted practices for the design and implementation of exercise research protocols involving animals. It is intended to address experimental paradigms for the most commonly used species and models in the context of U.S. national regulatory requirements for animal welfare and to be used in the context of the Animal Welfare Act, the Public Health Service Policy on Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals, or other relevant regulations and guidelines. This project grew out of recommendations submitted by the Environmental and Exercise Physiology (EEP) Section of the American Physiological Society (APS) in 2001 to the APS Council. On the basis of a review of published studies involving exercise in various animal species, members of the EEP Section suggested the development of ethical guidelines to be applied in determining whether a given study should be published in APS journals. It has been a long-standing requirement of the APS " Guiding Principles for the Care and Use of Animals " that research studies published in APS journals must minimize the pain and discomfort of animals, but the Society has not offered specific guidance. APS " Ethical Policies and Procedures " are contained in the " Information for Authors " section of the Society's journal publication instructions and available online at http:// The APS Council asked the APS Animal Care and Experimentation (ACE) Committee to examine the EEP recommendations in the broader context of existing regulations and guidelines. In 2002, ACE Committee Chair John N. Stallone asked Kevin Kregel as a member of both the EEP Section and the ACE Committee to organize this project. On December 3, 2002, a planning committee met at the Bethesda, MD headquarters of the APS. The group defined the parameters of the project as providing guidance rather than rules, developed a preliminary outline for the document, and identified additional areas of expertise that were needed. The NIH Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare agreed to provide support for the development of a resource concerning generally accepted standards for animal models of exercise research. vi During the next several months, a committee to develop a resource for animal exercise protocols was formed, drawing upon the expertise of the planning committee and others. A first draft was prepared, with committee members contributing sections consistent with their expertise. The expanded project group held a workshop on June 18, …