Vaccine Development and Ethical Sidetracking: Nonhuman primates in COVID-19 Biomedical Research

The current ethical paradigm condones the use of nonhuman animals for biomedical research experiments. Such use of animals has been acknowledged as a practice that comes with a considerable moral burden, and thus certain regulations have been established to control it. The singularity of nonhuman primates (NHPs), in terms of their cognitive and emotional complexity, grants them virtual personhood status, which is reflected in a stricter legislation, that nonetheless allows their use in certain cases. The pandemic brought about by SARS-CoV-2 has accelerated the classical drug development design model, and NHPs have been among the species used to test novel therapies. In this study, a search on the characteristics of NHPs and experimental techniques performed for COVID-19 vaccine development purposes will be used to weigh the costs and benefits of these practices. Taking a critical viewpoint, the results of these studies will be analyzed beyond their quantitative dimensions, considering the harm entailed for humans and NHPs, as well as the extension of potential benefits. © 2022, BAU College of Arts and Design Barcelona. All rights reserved.

Review of animal transmission experiments of respiratory viruses: Implications for transmission risk of SARS-COV-2 in humans via different routes.

Exploring transmission risk of different routes has major implications for epidemic control. However, disciplinary boundaries have impeded the dissemination of epidemic information, have caused public panic about "air transmission," "air-conditioning transmission," and "environment-to-human transmission," and have triggered "hygiene theater." Animal experiments provide experimental evidence for virus transmission, but more attention is paid to whether transmission is driven by droplets or aerosols and using the dichotomy to describe most transmission events. Here, according to characteristics of experiment setups, combined with patterns of human social interactions, we reviewed and grouped animal transmission experiments into four categories-close contact, short-range, fomite, and aerosol exposure experiments-and provided enlightenment, with experimental evidence, on the transmission risk of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-COV-2) in humans via different routes. When referring to "air transmission," context should be showed in elaboration results, rather than whether close contact, short or long range is uniformly described as "air transmission." Close contact and short range are the major routes. When face-to-face, unprotected, horizontally directional airflow does promote transmission, due to virus decay and dilution in air, the probability of "air conditioning transmission" is low; the risk of "environment-to-human transmission" highly relies on surface contamination and human behavior based on indirect path of "fomite-hand-mucosa or conjunctiva" and virus decay on surfaces. Thus, when discussing the transmission risk of SARS-CoV-2, we should comprehensively consider the biological basis of virus transmission, environmental conditions, and virus decay. Otherwise, risk of certain transmission routes, such as long-range and fomite transmission, will be overrated, causing public excessive panic, triggering ineffective actions, and wasting epidemic prevention resources.

Vitamin B6 Antidepressant Effects Are Comparable to Common Antidepressant Drugs in Bacillus-Calmette-Guerin Induced Depression Model in Mice.

Objective: Bacillus-Calmette-Guerin (BCG) inoculation in mice produces an acute period of illness followed by a chronic depressive-like behavior period that lasts for few weeks. The aim was to evaluate vitamin B6 antidepressant effect in comparison with common antidepressants. Method : BCG (0.2 ml/mouse) single dose was intraperitoneally inoculated in male mice. Vitamin B6 (100 mg/kg), fluoxetine, imipramine, or venlafaxine (10 mg/kg each) were intraperitoneally injected for 14 consecutive days following BCG administration. Illness was evaluated following inoculation and depressive-like behaviors were assessed on days 7 and 14. Results: Illness was induced by BCG since mice lost weight and locomotor activity was reduced. Illness was prevented by vitamin B6 similar to antidepressant drugs. Despair was measured by immobility time during the forced swim test and BCG increased it compared to control (193 ± 3s vs 151 ± 7s, P < 0.01) on day 7, and (200 ± 5s vs 147 ± 6s, P < 0.001) on day 14. Vitamin B6, like antidepressants, reduced despair. BCG clearly induced anhedonia evaluated by sucrose preference test (47.5%), and it was soothed by B6 and the antidepressants. Novelty-suppressed feeding test evaluated long term depressive behavior after 14 days. BCG increased the latency to first feeding (222 ± 41s vs control 87 ± 2.6s, P < 0.001) and reduced food consumption per body weight (13 ± 1 mg/g vs control 19 ± 2 mg/g, P < 0.001) while B6 like antidepressants reduced latency and improved food consumption. Conclusion: Vitamin B6 efficiently prevented BCG sickness and depression that was comparable to common antidepressant drugs. Therefore, B6 supplement for preventing depression in high-risk individuals is suggested for further clinical research.

United States Navy Joint Capability Resource on En Route Care

This Annual Report summarizes four projects that are encompassed within the awarded proposal entitled United States Navy Joint Capability Resource on En Route Care. The first of these projects (Project 1) is entitled: Resuscitative Endovascular Balloon Occlusion of the Aorta: Can Nurses and Corpsmen Perform this Skill for En Route Care: A Pilot Study. Project 1A Physiologic Effects of Hypobaria and REBOA in a Swine (Sus scrofa domestica) Hemorrhage Model is added on to Project 1. Project 2 is entitled: Evaluation of Human Factors Issues Relating to Providing En Route Care Within the V-22 Osprey Aircraft. Project 3 is entitled: Search and Rescue Records Modernization and Evaluation. Project 1 hypothesizes that provided proper training and practice, ERC nurses and Special Operations Independent Duty Corpsmen (IDC) can successfully acquire adequate knowledge on the use of REBOA, and successfully demonstrate skill placement competency among using simulation and cadaveric models. Project 1A: is determining the effects of altitude on REBOA placement. Project 2 will explore the working space challenges confronting medical providers in the V-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft;a medical care evacuation transportation aircraft. Project 3 is transforming approximately 45 years of the Navys SAR Model Managers (SARMM) historical records into a comprehensive SAR electronic database and developing a secure web-based electronic data collection system for new reports.

Susceptibility of Well-Differentiated Airway Epithelial Cell Cultures from Domestic and Wild Animals to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has spread globally, and the number of worldwide cases continues to rise. The zoonotic origins of SARS-CoV-2 and its intermediate and potential spillback host reservoirs, besides humans, remain largely unknown. Because of ethical and experimental constraints and more important, to reduce and refine animal experimentation, we used our repository of well-differentiated airway epithelial cell (AEC) cultures from various domesticated and wildlife animal species to assess their susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2. We observed that SARS-CoV-2 replicated efficiently only in monkey and cat AEC culture models. Whole-genome sequencing of progeny viruses revealed no obvious signs of nucleotide transitions required for SARS-CoV-2 to productively infect monkey and cat AEC cultures. Our findings, together with previous reports of human-to-animal spillover events, warrant close surveillance to determine the potential role of cats, monkeys, and closely related species as spillback reservoirs for SARS-CoV-2.

Public perception of laboratory animal testing: Historical, philosophical, and ethical view.

The use of laboratory animals in biomedical research is a matter of intense public debate. Recent statistics indicates that about half of the western population, sensitive to this discussion, would be in favor of animal testing while the other half would oppose it. Here, outlining scientific, historical, ethical, and philosophical aspects, we provide an integrated view explaining the reasons why biomedical research can hardly abandon laboratory animal testing. In this paper, we retrace the historical moments that mark the relationship between humans and other animal species. Then starting from Darwin's position on animal experimentation, we outline the steps that over time allowed the introduction of laws and rules that regulate animals' use in biomedical research. In our analysis, we present the perspectives of various authors, with the aim of delineating a theoretical framework within which to insert the ethical debate on laboratory animals research. Through the analysis of fundamental philosophical concepts and some practical examples, we propose a view according to which laboratory animals experimentation become ethically acceptable as far as it is guided by the goal of improving humans and other animal species (i.e., pets) life. Among the elements analyzed, there is the concept of responsibility that only active moral subjects (humans) have towards themselves and towards passive moral subjects (other animal species). We delineate the principle of cruelty that is useful to understand why research in laboratory animals should not be assimilated to a cruel act. Moreover, we touch upon the concepts of necessity and "good cause" to underline that, if biomedical research would have the possibility to avoid using animals, it would surely do that. To provide an example of the negative consequences occurring from not allowing laboratory animal research, we analyze the recent experience of Covid-19 epidemic. Finally, recalling the principle of "heuristics and biases" by Kahneman, we discuss why scientists should reconsider the way they are conveying information about their research to the general public.