ALTEX award 2006 (animal protection award) goes to a researcher at the Paul-Ehrlich-Institut (PEI)

Dr. Marion Krug and other scientists at the Paul-Ehrlich-Institut at Langen have received the ALTEX award 2006 which is granted by the ‘Fonds für versuchstierfreie Forschung’ (FFVFF) (Fund for Animal-Free Research). This year’s award was granted on the occasion of the 13th Conference of the Mitteleuropäische Gesellschaft für Alternativmethoden zu Tierversuchen (MEGAT) (Middle European Society for Alternatives to Testing in Animals) at Linz, Austria on 3 June 2006. Scientists to whom the award is granted receive 2000 Swiss Franks and a three-year MEGAT membership.

The award honours the best overview article in the field of animal welfare in the journal ALTEX (Alternatives to Animal Experiments) of the past year. The selected contribution "Serologische Testmethoden als Ersatz für Infektionsversuche an Ferkeln zur Wirksamkeitsprüfung von E. coli-Muttertierimpfstoffen" (Serological test methods as replacement for infection trials in piglets to test the potency of E. coli vaccines for dams) (ALTEX 22 (2), 2005) describes an alternative method to the currently required infection trial to test the potency of vaccines in piglets. The research project, was funded by the BMBF from 1999 – 2002 with Dr. Klaus Cussler and Dr. Babett Kobe of the Paul-Ehrlich-Institut as project leaders.

“Dr. Krug has now received an award for her research in the development of alternative methods to animal experiments for the second time”, as Prof. Johannes Löwer, President of the Paul-Ehrlich-Institut, happily says. “She is a good example for our steady and consistent work at the Paul-Ehrlich-Institut in revising the animal experiments required for the testing of human and veterinary medicinal products, and in – in the optimum case - replacing them by other methods”.

In her publication, Dr. Marion Krug addresses diarrhoea infections caused by particular strains of the bacterium Escherichia coli (E. coli). These present a major problem in piglet rearing. Vaccination of dams can increase the antibody titre against particular infection-related agents in the milk. Transfer of maternal antibodies by the milk will alleviate signs of the disease and reduce death in the suckling piglets.

For a marketing authorisation of such vaccines, the European Pharmacopoeia currently still requires efficacy determinations as assayed in infection trials in piglets. Marion Krug and co-workers have developed various test systems, known as enzyme immunoassays to replace such challenge procedures in piglets. With these tests, antibodies against four major so-called adhesion antigens in blood and colostrum can be identified. Since the vaccinations with subsequent drawing of blood samples only present a minor amount of stress in dams, this alternative method could be a major contribution to the refinement of animal experiments. It should be able to make future infection trials in piglets unnecessary.

Refinement – the improvement of animal experiments is one of the three pillars of the so-called ‘3R Concept’ for developing alternative methods to animal experiments. The two others are reduction and replacement.

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