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Institutional Animal Care & Use Committee

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Phone: (919) 966-5569
Fax: (919) 966-8429
CB 7193
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7193
iacuc@med.unc.edu

Weight Loss in Research Animals

Revised February 27, 2004

Investigators are responsible for monitoring animals for potential health issues, including weight loss. In cases where weight loss is anticipated, the following conditions apply:

  1. Anticipated weight loss greater than 10% due to experimental manipulation must be stated in the Animal Use Application with scientific justification, must be reviewed by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC), and must be monitored (including a baseline weight) by the investigator.
  2. Anticipated weight loss of greater than 20% requires an exception (see Exception Request form) to the IACUC policy and will only be approved under special circumstances. Weight loss as part of conditioning experiments may be as high as 20% of free-fed weight if justified and appropriately monitored.
  3. The investigator should be aware that weight loss in excess of 10% in a growing animal indicates more severe stress than a comparable weight loss in an adult animal, and should be brought to the attention of the veterinary staff.
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