[Animal models in pharmacy--ethical problems and alternative methods].

Many fields of natural sciences still in the recent past were based almost exclusively on tests carried out on experimental animals. For the reason of protection of experimental animals, the advanced states have introduced legislative measures aiming to decrease their numbers and stressing the development of alternative possibilities of obtaining relevant results. The alternative methods usable both in the field of research and in teaching include physico-chemical methods, mathematical and computer methods, studies on lower organisms, on vertebrates in early stages of their development, on humans, and the well elaborated in vitro methods. The paper also surveys the present-day possibilities of using alternative methods in the field of organizational-informational systems, teaching and research, with concrete examples of application. The future and prospects of alternative methods as well as the present state of the art in the Czech Republic are discussed.