Development of topic-specific searches for NAMs applications
The National Library of Medicine developed ALTBIB to provide users with a predeveloped strategy to search PubMed citations information on alternatives to animal testing. In early 2021, responsibility for hosting and maintenance of ALTBIB transitioned to NICEATM, and ALTBIB now resides on the NTP website. In addition to the basic search strategy, the National Library of Medicine’s ALTBIB contained a page with a list of topics focused on non-animal testing platforms or endpoints for which users might be interested in searching for alternatives to animal testing. This page was not included in the NICEATM ALTBIB launch because the topics and search strategies provided were out of date, and resources were not immediately available to update them.
Over the past couple of years, USDA's Animal Welfare Information Center (AWIC) has been developing search strategies, known as “hedges”, for topics specific to alternatives. The focus of AWIC’s activity has been refinement of animal use, and their hedges tend to be focused on animal species. In 2023, NICEATM and AWIC collaborated to develop hedges on topics focused on replacement of animal use. Topics under development include MPS, QSAR models for hazard identification, non-animal tests for developmental neurotoxicity and acute inhalation toxicity, and in vitro to in vivo extrapolation (IVIVE). The hedges are currently being refined by an AWIC-sponsored working group with input from NICEATM subject matter experts and will be made available on a new webpage on the ALTBIB site in spring 2024.