Information management in laboratory animal facilities for non-human primates: what we have been using in Brazil
Natália Francelin Gomes Cordeiro de Lima, Klena Sarges Marruaz da Silva, Igor Machado de Castro, Tatiana Kugelmeier
Abstract
In digital curation, data are essential for actions, enabling better administrative management and greater efficiency in a sector or activity. In a research animal facility, the collection of management data associated with management systems or control sheets is the basis for ensuring quality information that subsidizes research and generates performance indicators and the needs and challenges to be transposed in the breeding and maintenance of animals. The inconsistency of data or incomplete records compromises the choices adopted in husbandry management practices or the interpretation of research results. For this reason, a survey was carried out about software available on the market that helps laboratory animal facilities with the management regarding software used in non-human primate breeding institutions (NHP) for scientific or conservation purposes. We identified 38 software that supports the handling of lab animals used in biomedical research; most of them with functionalities of environmental control (63.15%), control of animal files/tags (63.15%), and control of reproductive management (60%) and only two software related to the management of nonhuman primates kept under human care in research institutions. Regarding the tools used to manage the breeding of non-human primates in captivity in Brazilian institutions, five of the institutions questioned and reported that none currently uses software for colony management. In conclusion, there are several software for managing laboratory animals, but most of them are geared toward the management of rodent animal facilities. There is a lack of specific software on the market for use in animal facilities managing non-human primate breeding, which indicates the need for software developed to meet the management needs of animal facilities for these facilities.
Keywords
Submitted date:
06/02/2022
Accepted date:
10/24/2022