Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 26, 2026
Handling of the Cotton Rat in Studies for the Pre-clinical Evaluation of Oncolytic Viruses
Published on: November 24, 2014
Successful implementation of cooperative handling eliminates the need for restraint in a complex non-human primate
Melanie L Graham1, Eric F Rieke, Lucas A Mutch
1Department of Surgery, Schulze Diabetes Institute, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55108, USA. graha066@umn.edu
Background:
Streptozotocin-induced diabetic non-human primates are used to study efficacy and safety of innovative immunosuppression after islet transplantation. We implemented a training program for medical management of a chronic disease state.
Methods:
Cooperation with hand feeding and drinking, shifting, and limb presentation were trained utilizing predominately positive but also negative reinforcement in 52 animals compared with 28 macaques subjected to conventional physical and/or chemical restraint. The success and timing of behavior acquisition was evaluated in a representative subset of 14 animals.
Results:
Over 90% of animals were successful in behavior acquisition. Programmatically this resulted in complete elimination of chair restraint and negligible requirement for sedation. About half of the trained animals had no-to-moderate thymic involution, indicative of a substantial reduction in stress.
Conclusion:
Cooperative handling enhances animal well-being. This contributes to validity of scientific results and eliminates model-induced confounding that can obstruct interpretation of safety and efficacy data.
