Choosing the right animal model for infectious disease research

Abstract

A complex biological system is often required to study the myriad of host-pathogen interactions associated with infectious diseases, especially since the current basis of biology has reached the molecular level. The use of animal models is important for understanding the very complex temporal relationships that occur in infectious disease involving the body, its neuroendocrine and immune systems and the infectious organism. Because of these complex interactions, the choice of animal model must be a thoughtful and clearly defined process in order to provide relevant, translatable scientific data and to ensure the most beneficial use of the animals. While many animals respond similarly to humans from physiological, pathological, and therapeutic perspectives, there are also significant species-by-species differences. A well- of animal models available to researchers. In certain cases, such as for new or emerging diseases for which human data are not available, the animal model is crucial for understanding the pathogenesis of the disease before the development of vaccines or therapeutics can even be considered. Beyond that, a well-designed animal model provides a sound basis for supporting good science and ensuring the most beneficial use of both animal and human resources. Animal models play an especially important role in infectious disease research because in many cases, the resultant disease is potentially lethal or permanently disabling and therefore does not readily lend itself to research using human subjects. Animal models are essential for scientific advancement in many areas of human health, but if they are not well characterized and understood, erroneous conclusions may be drawn, hindering scientific advancement and resulting in a waste of animal life. A well-designed animal model requires a thorough understanding of similarities and differences in theThis is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.

Experimental Models for the Study of Central Nervous System Infection by SARS-CoV-2

“…Due to these complex interactions, selecting an appropriate model should be a thoughtful and clearly defined process, in order to provide relevant and translatable scientific data enabling us to address the questions of interest and to ensure the rational use of animals. Although many animals may respond similarly to humans from physiological, pathological, and therapeutic perspectives, we must bear in mind that differences between species may lead to erroneous conclusions ( 27 ); it is therefore necessary to understand the relationship between the model and the human disease ( 28 ). In the light of the current pandemic, it is essential to have a cellular or animal model mimicking the symptoms and pathological processes identified in patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 ( 29 ).…”

Bread feeding is a robust and more physiological enteropathogen administration method compared to oral gavage

“…Animal infection models represent major research tools to understand human disease, as they allow to investigate in a relevant physiological environment the very complex interactions that take place between pathogens and hosts during organ/tissue colonization or whole-body dissemination (1, 2). For the study of bacterial enteropathogens, oral administration is a preferred infection route to assess intestinal colonization and pathogenesis in mammalian hosts.…”

Modeling of viral-bacterial infections against antibiotic-induced intestinal dysbiosis

“…Thus, for Coxsackie B viruses effective models are laboratory mice of 1-3 days of age, among polioviruses only 2 serotypes cause clinical symptoms in adult mice, and only with parenteral administration, and to mouse ECOS viruses are not at all sensitive [2,7,11,12]. In general, it should be noted that despite the presence of a certain amount of scientific work on modeling of enterovirus infection in animals, detailed information on the features of the course and factors affecting the infection process is not enough [17].…”