Animal models Flashcards
1
Q
What is an animal model?
A
- A living organism in which normative biology or behavior can be studied
- or in which a spontaneous or induced pathological process can be investigated
- and in which the phenomenon in one or more aspects resembles the same phenomenon in humans or other species of animals
2
Q
Name three categories of animal models
A
- exploratory model
- explanatory model
- predictive model
3
Q
How can an animal model be?
A
- homologous - the symptoms and causes of disease are the same as in human
- isomorphic - sypmtoms are similar, but cause differs
- partial - do not mimic the entire disease but may be used to study certain aspects or treatments of the human disease (e.g. schizophrenia induced by amphetamines)
4
Q
Name different animal models for human disease
A
- Spontaneous model (high fidelity, low availability)
- induced model
- genetically modfied
- negative model
- orphan model - first in animal, then in human
5
Q
Animal predictive values for human toxicity
A
- hematological HT 91%
- gastrointestinal HT85%
- cardiovascular HT 80%
- neurological HT 22%
6
Q
Name three categories of reasons we choose the appropriate animal model on
A
- reasons related to the animal (biological, economic)
- reasons related to the research project and researchers (tradition/experience)
- reasons related to society (ethics)
7
Q
why mice?
A
- most used experimental animal
- easy to handle
- small - takes very little space
- cheap (compared to rat)
- short generations
- large littersize
8
Q
Why rats?
A
- Very well documented physiology
- social and tame
- learn tasks easily
- a lot of documentation from basic research in tests of drugs and chemicals
- many rat models of human diseases: stroke, high BP, diabetes, obesity, arthritis
9
Q
Why Stickleback?
A
- easy to breed and manage
- fesh and salt water
- environment and environmental factors
- drugs and chemicals in waterways
10
Q
Why zebrafish?
A
- easy to breed and manage
- tropical freswater fish
- known genetic setup makeup
- developmental biology - the eggs are translucent
11
Q
Why pigs?
A
- very similar to humans in a metabolic sense
- omnivorous
- suitable for research on certain human diseases
- CV
- atherosclerosis and dyslipidemia
- burnwounds
- training for surgeons
12
Q
Why non human primates?
A
- Development of vaccines
- HIV research
- studies of social behaviour, memory and learning
13
Q
Why dogs?
A
- well known physiology
- development of pharmaceutical compounds
- dogs help dogs
