Training Pigs for Oral Glucose Tolerance Test—Six Years’ Experience of a Refined Model

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Animal models for human diseases are used in situations where studies cannot be carried out on humans. While animal models in biomedical research play a pivotal part in the development of new and safe treatments for humans, it is important that the animals are used in the best way and that possible refinements are considered. Pigs are often used to model humans since the two species share many anatomical and physiological characteristics. This publication describes refinements in the training technique of pigs prior to an oral glucose tolerance test, a test commonly used in diabetes research where the individual drinks a certain amount of glucose followed by blood sampling. Sharing these results with the research community will help other researchers to successfully train pigs in such studies. ABSTRACT: Animal models of human diseases are important in biomedical research. When using animals for scientific purposes, the 3Rs (replace, reduce, refine) should be considered. Refinement of animal models is essential to ensure best use of animals, which is important for ethical reasons and to retrieve reliable research data. The present publication describes improvements to an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) model for pigs published in 2016. Historical data from 42 pigs were used to describe improvements in the training technique over six years. Pigs of various breeds and ages can be trained to bottle-feed glucose dissolved in water to undergo OGTT. This publication describes different tips and techniques to apply for successful training and will help researchers to minimize exclusions of pigs due to unsuccessful training. The improvements are an important contribution to the 3Rs.