Limitation of Animal Models

For a full report see Geerts 2009 "Of Mice and Men: Bridging the translational disconnect in CNS R&D".

Parameter	Animal models	ISB Computational Platform
Drug Affinities	Clinical candidate is often optimized for rodent target subtypes	Accounts for possible differences because use of human target affinities
Neurotransmitter Circuits	Differently wiring (receptor distributions) in rodents can limit predictivity	Uses human circuits & distributions
Drug Exposure	Rodents metabolize faster and different active metabolites can be formed	Can use exposure and unique meatbolites from human patients
Functional Genotypes	Specific human genotypes often impossible to recreate in rodent models	Where imaging information available is incorporated into platform
Polypharmacy	Very expensive and difficult to perform in preclinical models	Approved psycho-active medications (antidepressants, anti-convulsants, sleep-medication and antipsychotics) part of the platform.
Complete Human Pathology	Difficult to get complete pathology in rodent model	Uses complete pathology from imaging and postmortem studies

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