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MOVING TOWARDS A BAN ON THE USE OF MICE FOR THE PRODUCTION OF MONOCLONAL ANTIBODIES

In cooperation with the "Comité déontologique belge" and with international experts from industry and academia the Belgian Platform for Alternative Methods decided to make recommendations to encourage the use of alternative methods for the production of monoclonal antibodies.		 BPAM

One the BPAM's recommendations is to use cell cultures instead of mice and more particularly, bioproduction of monoclonal antibodies, by using alternatives to the classic ascitis technique.

Monoclonal antibodies are glycoproteins synthesised by the immune system, which, in their natural state, present a molecular structure and properties which are heterogeneous. However, it is sometimes necessary to obtain antibodies with homogeneous properties for the requirements of medical treatment and fundamental research. In such cases, one speaks of monoclonal antibodies, the production of which takes place in two stages.

The first stage, for which there is no alternative to the use of animals, consists in the immunisation of a mouse (a painless procedure) whose antibody-producing cells are recuperated. These are then combined with cancerous cells to obtain cellular clones which will be cultivated to produce monoclonal antibodies.

The second stage of the process then takes place, with the use of either in vitro or in vivo methods.

The in vivo ascitis method which was developed in the nineteen-seventies, entails the injection into the peritoneal cavity of a mouse (injection in the abdomen), the culture obtained in the first stage of the process. The next step is to recuperate 15 days later the monoclonal antibodies which are released inside the large volume of ascitis liquid produced simultaneously in the abdomen of the mouse. This reaction causes intense suffering.

In vitro methods, which are currently used by more and more researchers, dispense of the use of animals and produce monoclonal antibodies of high degree of purity. These methods rely on live cells cultures maintained separately from the animal.

The consideration of the in vivo and in vitro methods shows that it is possible today, in most cases, to abandon the use of animals, thereby avoiding suffering, to produce monoclonal antibodies using in vitro techniques.

This is one of the objectives of BPAM in its constant effort to encourage the development of alternative methods.

What are monoclonal antibodies ? These are particularly pure and homogenous substances used in human and veterinary medicine for the study of immunity. These antibodies have become essential elements in various sectors of medicine such as diagnostics, the treatment of certain diseases or the development of fundamental biomedical research.
 
Structure of an antibody