Cumulative stress in research animals: Telomere attrition as a biomarker in a welfare context?
Publication Type: |
Journal Article |
Year of Publication: |
2016 |
Authors: |
M. Bateson |
Publication/Journal: |
Bioessays |
Keywords: |
age, animal welfare, anxiety disorders, biochemistry & molecular biology, biological age, biology, biomarker, body-mass, chronic pain, cortisol, cumulative experience, cumulative severity, dynamics, length, life-span, oxidative stress, stress, telomere dynamics |
ISBN: |
0265-9247 |
Abstract:
Progress in improving animal welfare is currently limited by the lack of objective methods for assessing lifetime experience. I propose that telomere attrition, a cellular biomarker of biological age, provides a molecular measure of cumulative experience that could be used to assess the welfare impact of husbandry regimes and/or experimental procedures on non-human animals. I review evidence from humans that telomere attrition is accelerated by negative experiences in a cumulative and dose-dependent manner, but that this attrition can be mitigated or even reversed by positive life-style interventions. Evidence from non-human animals suggests that despite some specific differences in telomere biology, stress-induced telomere attrition is a robust phenomenon, occurring in a range of species including mice and chickens. I conclude that telomere attrition apparently integrates positive and negative experience in an accessible common currency that translates readily to novel species – the Holy Grail of a cumulative welfare indicator.