Maintenance of an SPF Macaque Breeding Colony for AIDS Research

Tulane University Of Louisiana, New Orleans LA

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Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT NIH award U42OD010568 funds the establishment and maintenance of a Tulane National Primate Research Center (TNPRC) specific pathogen free (SPF) breeding colony of rhesus macaques to support AIDS research. The TNPRC AIDS research program is the largest at the Center, currently accounting for 61% of all research grant funding and 67% of animals assigned to research at the TNPRC on an annual basis. The SPF breeding colony also provides rhesus macaques to affiliate investigators outside of the TNPRC for AIDS research. The TNPRC SPF program supports a variety of AIDS studies which are aligned with NIH’s HIV/AIDS research priorities including vaccine development, pre-exposure prophylaxis, microbicides, AIDS/TB coinfection, transmission pathogenesis, and cure research. The high national demand for SPF macaques requires the continued availability and enhancement of this resource. As part of its program for continuous improvement, the TNPRC continuously assesses and refines indoor nonhuman primate (NHP) caging equipment to facilitate social housing, expand methods for the provision of food-related and inanimate enrichment, improve safety and ergonomics for animal care staff, maximize infection control, and increase flexibility in housing configurations to accommodate a variety of research requirements. Teams of engineers have collaborated with the TNPRC animal care staff, behavioral management staff, and veterinarians to create designs to meet the specialized needs of the program and improve animal wellbeing. The most impactful attribute of these caging systems involves maximizing the use of social housing. Several ongoing and proposed AIDS studies require that NHP receive long term antiretroviral therapy (ART). Positive reinforcement training is being implemented to optimize the administration of ART while minimizing distress and improving animal welfare. The caging system proposed here will enhance the physical environment, address the needs of our positive reinforcement training program, and promote consistency and minimize variability in the care of NHP thereby improving scientific rigor and reproducibility. If funds are awarded for this proposal, they will be used to purchase an innovative caging system that enhances the environment by joining vertical as well as horizontal spaces, expands social housing opportunities, facilitates positive reinforcement training of rhesus macaques, and improves ergonomics and safety for staff caring for animals in the TNPRC AIDS SPF breeding colony supported by NIH U42OD010568. The request is within the original scope of the parent award to maintain the existing SPF colony and distribute available animals to the NIH-funded HIV/AIDS research community and there is no overlap with this project and the parent grant.