Alternative experimental approaches to reduce animal use in biomedical studies

초록

We review experimental approaches that can be used instead of in vivo studies involving vertebrate animal models and human clinical trials. The existing alternative experimental approaches were classified as in vitro digestion models, invertebrate models, organs-on-a-chip, in silico models, and toxicity tests. In vitro models mimicking the digestive system may help assess pharmacokinetics without the use of animal models. In addition, invertebrate models can be easily applied in genetics research and toxicity assays owing to their advantages, such as effortless handling, low cost, small size, and simple anatomy. Organs-on-a-chip and in silico models can simulate the physiological activity in biological organs and can be useful for monitoring human diseases. Moreover, these alternative models can be adopted as screening platforms to assess candidate drugs during the preclinical phase through rapid and simple monitoring of physiological response to drugs. Therefore, these alternative experimental approaches can contribute to ethical reduction of animal use in biological studies. © 2022 Elsevier B.V.

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