title: The Production of Polyclonal Antibodies in Laboratory Animals. The Report and Recommendations of ECVAM Workshop 35.
abstract: This is the report of the thirty-fifth of a series of workshops organised by the European Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods (ECVAM). ECVAM's main goal, as defined in 1993 by its Scientific Advisory Committee, is to promote the scientific and regulatory acceptance of alternative methods which are of importance to the biosciences and which reduce, refine or replace the use of laboratory animals. One of the first priorities set by ECVAM was the implementation of procedures which would enable it to become well informed about the state-of-the-art of non-animal test development and validation, and the potential for the possible incorporation of alternative tests into regulatory procedures. It was decided that this would be best achieved by the organisation of ECVAM workshops on specific topics, at which small groups of invited experts would review the current status of various types of in vitro tests and their potential uses, and make recommendations about the best ways forward (1). This joint ECVAM/FELASA (Federation of European Laboratory Animal Science Associations) workshop on The Immunisation of Laboratory Animals for the Production of Polyclonal Antibodies was held in Utrecht (The Netherlands), on 20-22 March 1998, under the co-chairmanship of Coenraad Hendriksen (RIVM, Bilthoven, The Netherlands) and Wim de Leeuw (Inspectorate for Health Protection, The Netherlands). The participants, all experts in the fields of immunology, laboratory animal science, or regulation, came from universities, industry and regulatory bodies. The aims of the workshop were: a) to discuss and evaluate current immunisation procedures for the production of polyclonal antibodies (including route of injection, animal species and adjuvant ); and b) to draft recommendations and guidelines to improve the immunisation procedures, with regard both to animal welfare and to the optimisation of immunisation protocols. This report summarises the outcome of the discussions and includes a number of recommendations and a set of draft guidelines (included in Appendix 1).
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Public Health and the Environment - RIVM, P.O. Box 1, 3720 BA Bilthoven, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: P P
authors.initials: PP
authors.lastname: Leenaars
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Public Health and the Environment - RIVM, P.O. Box 1, 3720 BA Bilthoven, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: C F
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Hendriksen
authors.affiliation: Inspectorate for Health Protection, Commodities and Veterinary Public Health, De Stoven 22, 7206 AX Zutphen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: W A
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: de Leeuw
authors.affiliation: Stallergenes SA, 6 Rue Alexis de Tocqueville, 92183 Antony Cedex Paris, France.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Carat
authors.affiliation: Centre D'Economie Rurale, Rue du Point du Jour 8, 6900 Marloie, Belgium.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Delahaut
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Fischer
authors.affiliation: ECVAM, JRC Environment Institute, 21020 Ispra, Italy.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Halder
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Illinois, 835 S. Wolcott, Chicago, IL 60612, USA.
authors.forename: W C
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Hanly
authors.affiliation: Paul-Ehrlich-Institut, Bundesamt für Sera und Impfstoffe, Paul-Ehrlich-Strasse 51-59, 63225 Langen, Germany.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hartinger
authors.affiliation: Department of Comparative Medicine, Biomedical Centre, Box 570, 75123 Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hau
authors.affiliation: Superfos Biosector a/s, Elsenbakken 23, 3600 Frederikssund, Denmark.
authors.forename: E B
authors.initials: EB
authors.lastname: Lindblad
authors.affiliation: Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany.
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Nicklas
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Unidad Respuesta Immune, Centro Nacional de Biol. Fundamental, 28220 Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: I M
authors.initials: IM
authors.lastname: Outschoorn
authors.affiliation: Division of Infection and Immunity, Institute of Biomedical and Life Sciences, Joseph Black Building, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK.
authors.forename: D E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Stewart-Tull