Dear, Colleagues,
We would like to announce you that we have published a Special Issue on Experimental Models of Liver Injury in Mice in Laboratory Animals.
Laboratory Animals is the Official Journal of AFSTAL, ESLAV, FELASA, GV-SOLAS, ILAF, LASA, NVP, SECAL, SGV and SPCAL. All these Associations have exceptional high reputation in the field of Animals Science and Welfare.
I have set up this Special Issue with my colleague Professor René H. Tolba, who is the President of the German Society of Laboratory Animals and expert for developing educational media for Laboratory Animal Research.
The aim of our initiative was to develop standardized operation procedures (SOPs) and a comprehensive framework for several disease models in mice that are commonly used in experimental and molecular hepatology. We ended up with detailed surgical protocols (bile duct ligation, partial hepatectormy), protocols for the application of several hepatotoxins (carbon tetrachloride, concanavalin A, thioacetamide, acetaminophen, LPS) dietary models (MCD, Lieber,deCarli, HFD, alcohol etc.) as well as a detailed DEN protocol for induction of HCC.
The rationale of our initiative was to contribute to the implementation of the new EU Directive 2010/63. In Germany (and in all other countries of the EU) it will be nearly impossible to perform animal experimentation in future without having these SOPs.
The link of this Special Issue can found at:
http://lan.sagepub.com/content/49/1_suppl.toc
I am sure that the notice of our Special Issue will be interesting to all readers working in the field of Gastroenterology and Hepatology and to foster the general discussion about the new animal welfare rules not only in Europe but also in Asia.

Regards

Ralf Weiskirchen
Univ.-Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Ralf Weiskirchen
Institut für Molekulare Pathobiochemie,
Experimentelle Gentherapie und Klinische Chemie
RWTH Universitätsklinikum Aachen
Pauwelsstr. 30
D-52074 Aachen