Take action - contact Arthritis Research UK

A research centre founded with money from Arthritis Research UK, provided a grant to support gruesome experiments conducted on a number of ten-week-old mice. The experiment involved these beautiful animals having their knees surgically damaged. At a later date they suffered injections either into a vein or directly into their injured knee. The animals were imaged numerous times, so they would have been captured, restrained and given an anaesthetic or a sedative. After the final imaging session, the mice were killed by having their necks broken. Animal Aid has highlighted numerous times the species differences which make data gathered from animals unreliable for applying to humans.

Please contact Liam O’Toole, Chief Executive Officer of Arthritis Research UK, and ask the charity to stop supporting cruel and unnecessary experiments on animals.

Liam

O'Toole

Arthritis Research UK

Dear Mr O'Toole

I was shocked to discover that Arthritis Research UK, through the Arthritis Research UK (ARUK) Centre for OA Pathogenesis, has supported cruel and unnecessary research on animals. The experiments involved 10-week old male mice having their knees surgically damaged and then being injected, either into a vein or into their damaged knee, in order to investigate the distribution of a bio-marker molecule.

As you will no doubt be aware, the study (Lim, N.H, Vincent, T.L. & Nissim, A. In vivo optical imaging of early osteoarthritis using an antibody specific to damaged arthritic cartilage. Arthritis Research & Therapy, 2015) was designed to determine how 1-11E was distributed within the injured knee joint of mice, with the intention that this could be used to monitor the progression of early OA in humans. A paper from 2010 had already shown that 1-11E bound only to damaged cartilage.

Osteoarthritis most often develops in adults who are in their late 40’s or older. It is more common in women and also those with a family history of the condition. Despite these factors, the research in question used 10-week old, male mice, with no explanation why.

This research, already unreliable due to species differences between humans and mice, involved additional factors which make the science even more questionable: the use of only one sex, unevenly sized experimental groups, as well as different groups being imaged a different number of times.

Your present policy on vivisection means that I will not be donating to you. If your policy changes – so that only humane and productive non-animal research receives support – then I will be very happy to reconsider my stance.

Kind regards,
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EXPOSING AND CHALLENGING CHARITY-FUNDED VIVISECTION

Take action - contact Arthritis Research UK