Kacew S, Dixit R, Ruben Z
Department of Pharmacology, University of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
Biomed Environ Sci. 1998 Sep;11(3):203-17.
The necessity for understanding normal human cognitive processes and behavior, and the mechanisms which result in dysfunction in these processes are dependent on utilization of a suitable animal model. In order to develop pharmaceutical agents to alleviate mental disturbances and enable the individual to cope within the norms of society, it is incumbent upon investigators to choose a species in which pharmacokinetic principles are established and resemble those of humans. The choice of rats in cognition research studies has specific advantages in that these animals possess similar pharmacodynamic parameters to humans. Further advantages include availability, low cost, ease of breeding, maintenance and an extensive literature database which enable comparisons to present findings. However, there are substantial differences in the performance of various rat strains in tasks of learning, memory, attention, and responses to stress or drugs. In addition to rat strain, quantity of food also exerts profound consequences on animal behavior. The aim of this review is to demonstrate that there are differences in the central nervous system responsiveness of rat strains to chemical and these could be related to factors such as source of supplier, type and quantity of feed, or season of the year. It is also evident that the genotype differs amongst strains and this may be responsible for the observed differences in CNS sensitivity to chemicals. Strain differences must be identified and taken into consideration in interpretation of assessment of neurobehavioral functions. It is also incumbent upon the investigators to utilize healthy (diet-controlled) animal models.
理解正常人类认知过程和行为以及导致这些过程功能障碍的机制需要依赖合适的动物模型。为了开发缓解精神障碍并使个体能够在社会规范内应对的药物制剂，研究人员有责任选择一种已确立药代动力学原理且与人类相似的物种。在认知研究中选择大鼠有其特定优势，即这些动物具有与人类相似的药效学参数。其他优势还包括易获得、成本低、易于繁殖和饲养，以及拥有广泛的文献数据库以便与当前研究结果进行比较。然而，不同大鼠品系在学习、记忆、注意力以及对压力或药物的反应任务中的表现存在显著差异。除了大鼠品系外，食物量也会对动物行为产生深远影响。本综述的目的是表明大鼠品系对化学物质的中枢神经系统反应存在差异，这些差异可能与供应商来源、饲料类型和数量或一年中的季节等因素有关。同样明显的是，不同品系的基因型不同，这可能是观察到的中枢神经系统对化学物质敏感性差异的原因。在解释神经行为功能评估时必须识别并考虑品系差异。研究人员也有责任使用健康（饮食控制）的动物模型。
