ALTBIB - Alternatives to Animal Testing

Entering a Search Query

In the query box, enter one or more terms that describe your search topic. These may be any combination of words, chemical names, and numbers, including Chemical Abstracts Services Registry Numbers (CASRNs). Examples of search terms:

• acetone
• vinyl chloride
• 50-00-0
• brain
• dna adducts
• skin tumors
• biomarkers
• aflatoxin b1

The term(s) entered will be searched for in all ALTBIB fields.

You can view the full search strategy, including any mapped terms, by examining the list items under "Modify PubMed Search Strategy" on the Edit ALTBIB Search page. Clicking the check box beside a list items will reveal the structure of that search subtopic, which you can modify by editing the terms in the text box.

The search, including any modifications you have made, will be initiated when you click the "Search" button. To erase your search term(s) and start over with a blank query box, click on the "Reset Form" link.

Synonym Searching

If your query includes chemicals, ALTBIB will expand your search by adding synonyms and CASRNs. For example, if you enter "perchloroethylene," the system will add the CASRN 127-18-4 and synonyms such as "tetrachloroethylene" and "tetrachloroethene." To turn off synonym searching, place double quotes around your query words, which will limit your search to the exacts term you enter.

Search terms entered in the query box will be matched against a translation table derived from the National Library of Medicine's Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) controlled vocabulary. This table includes MeSH terms, "see" cross references (i.e. entry terms), subheadings, and other equivalent or lexical variant terms identified in the Unified Medical Language System (UMLS). If your search term is found in the translation table, your search will be automatically augmented with terms associated with it. For example, if you enter "LLNA," ALTBIB will also search for the MeSH heading "Local Lymph Node Assay."

Federal agencies promote the use of alternatives to animal testing for biomedical research and toxicity testing. Research on such alternatives aims to:

• Refine procedures to decrease pain and distress.
• Reduce the number of animals required to provide scientifically valid results.
• Replace animals with non-animal systems or one animal species with a phylogenetically lower one.

Development of alternative methods is an active area of research. The ALTBIB search tool provides users with access via PubMed to the latest research on in vitro and computational methods to predict toxicity, as well as approaches to refining animal use for study types that still require animals.