Nonhuman primates animal models

The main pre-clinical species used for pharmacokinetic studies are the rat, mouse and dog. An examination of the Biosys database for 2000 and 2001 shows that of the abstracted papers, 6334 mapped to the subject heading Pharmacokinetics . Of these, the vast majority (70%) were studies on humans. Studies on rats constituted 14% of the reports, mice 7.5% and dogs 3.4% (Table 6.2). Nonhuman primates can also be important pharmacokinetic models, but ethical and practical considerations severely limit studies in these animals such that, within the same period, they represented less than 0.5% of the abstracted reports on PK. 

Animal models of fear and anxiety have primarily used the rat, the mouse and, to a lesser extent, nonhuman primates. It is not particularly difficult to evoke or measure anxiety in these species. However, difficulties arise when one attempts to define exactly how a stimulus and resultant behavioral response are related to human behavior, i.e. when a mouse exhibits freezing behavior to an unfamiliar and threatening cue, what is the human equivalent Or, similarly, what stimulus could one present to a rat to best model the anxiety-inducing-experience of... 

The website continues, "The use of animal models to study neuro-developmental disorders has also been expanding, particularly here at UC Davis, which has schools of medicine and veterinary medieine, as well as a primate research center. Monkeys and other nonhuman primates have brains organized comparable to humans, making them ideal research models for the study of neuro-developmental disorders."... 

Rodent models have been used successfully to study generalized anxiety, but, unfortunately, their applicability to the study of panic attacks is doubtful [File 1995]. In contrast, nonhuman primate models of both anxiety and panic have been developed in our own group and in other laboratories. These models, which typically involve the administration of a challenge agent to a singly caged animal, have been successful because fear and anxiety occur spontaneously in the primate, typically in response to social or environmental threat, and because monkeys exhibit much the same behavioral repertoire in their natural environment and in captivity [Higley and Suomi 1989 Kalin and Shelton 1989 Sapolsky 1990 Suomi 1982]. 

Species specificity Species independent preclinical assessments for generally toxicity generally performed in one rodent (generally rat) and one nonrodent (generally dog) Species specific nonhuman primates often the only relevant species or design of specific animal models... 

ILAR. Nonhuman primate and other animal models of women s health. Inst Lab Animal Res. 2004 45 83-219. 

The teratogenic syndrome of in utero VPA exposure in humans includes neural, craniofacial, cardiovascular, and skeletal defects. A similar teratology is exhibited in rodents, rabbits, and nonhuman primates. The most dramatic of malformations associated with gestational VPA exposure is spina bifida, a neural tube defect that is estimated to occur in 1-2% of VPA exposed infants. Mice are the only known animal model to exhibit a comparable effect of VPA on neural tube development. 

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