The role of water chemistry in zebrafish welfare and reproducibility of research studies

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The present proposal will result in improvements relating to the Reduction and Refinement components of the 3Rs: REDUCTION: 1) Zebrafish research facilities will need to produce fewer stock animals to fulfil experimental numbers as the animals produced will be higher quality when water chemistry is optimised.2) Optimal water chemistry is also expected to improve the consistency of the quality of stock fish (i.e. less inter-individual variability). This will also reduce animal use overall because: a) less replication within studies required to achieve the same statistical power in detecting treatment differences, and b) the reproducibility between studies and different facilities will be improved. 3) Optimising water quality will also extend the timeframe of peak embryo production by adults, which in turn will reduce the frequency of producing new broodstock lines. This window currently varies from 4 to 9 months, so consistently working at the upper end of this range could halve the number of new broodstock lines required. REFINEMENT: This study will also minimise pain, suffering, distress or lasting harm associated with sub-optimal water quality. In particular elevated CO2 is known to impair brain function and the ability of fish to respond appropriately to sensory stimuli (olfactory, auditory and visual) that are part of their normal life and social interactions, and impairs learning and cognitive function, and can induce anxiety. The costs of coping with high CO2 and acid-base regulation also detract from energy spent on healthy growth, development, reproduction, immune function and disease resistance. The proposed study will provide evidence to optimise CO2 itself, as well as variables known to limit the ability of fish to achieve acid-base homeostasis associated everyday challenges of digestion/exercise/husbandry stresses and high CO2. The latter includes freshwater Na+ and Cl- levels which limit the rate of acid and base excretion by the gills, and calcium that directly regulates skin and gill permeability to all molecules. Water bicarbonate also determines the tolerance of fish to high CO2, and recovering their acid-base balance. The proposed experiments will therefore offer the opportunity to significantly reduce the detrimental impacts of water sub-optimal quality in zebrafish research facilities throughout the world. METRICS ON POTENTIAL 3Rs IMPACT: Until the research is completed it is difficult to precisely quantify the anticipated reduction of animals used and suffering experienced. However, zebrafish are the number one model species used in fish studies globally, with more than 3,250 institutes in 100 countries estimated to conduct zebrafish research. Zebrafish represent the 2nd most used species of any vertebrate in animal research, with >5 million fish used per annum. Therefore, even if only 1 % of all the global zebrafish research facilities adopted the guidelines we aim to produce, then at least 50,000 fish per year would benefit from improved welfare (which should include physiological homeostasis, growth, behaviour and immune function). Even if this 1 % figure only applied to the UK, then >4,000 zebrafish would still benefit per year. In reality the 1 % figure is likely to be a very conservative estimate of improved welfare for zebrafish globally. This will be due to fewer fish being required per study due to better consistency of production (i.e. lower inter-individual variability), and due to improved reproducibility between studies and facilities. In turn, this will translate into more robust and reliable conclusions regarding the outcomes of research (e.g. efficacy of drug treatments etc.). Regarding the "Refinement" component, if high quality guidelines are produced and disseminated effectively there is potential to reduce animal suffering on a truly global scale and improve the cumulative lifetime experience of millions of animals per year.