To study some commonly used laboratory animals

Theory– Handling of laboratory animals has a great importance in experimental pharmacology. Animal we use in our laboratory, generally the rodents such as rats, mice guinea pigs and rabbits are most of the common laboratory animals who can be bred and if kept under ideal condition, provides a reliable supply of uniform and healthy animals for the purpose of experimentation. etc. these animals are usually used because they have anatomical similarity with human beings.

Animal	Rat	Mouse	Guinea Pig	Rabbit
Average weight (in gram)	200	20	500	2000
Average life span (in years)	03	02	02	05
Average age suitable for experimentation (in month)	04	02	04	06

Following are some commonly used laboratory animals :-

Guinea pig

Guniea pigs (400-600 gm) are used in various experiment of pharmacology. They are highly sensitive to histamine. These animals are docile in nature and very susceptible to tuberculosis, asthma (bronchodilators) and to anaphylactic shock. They are also used to study local anaesthetics.      

Guninea Pig

Albino rat

Two strains of albino rats are commonly used in experimental pharmacology – 

Wistar strain 

 Its body length longer than tail length. It has wide head. It is not susceptible to infection.

Wister Strain

Sprague dawley

Its body length is almost equal to tail length. It has long and narrower head. It is susceptible to injection.

Sprague Dawley

White rats (wistar strain) are the most common laboratory animals used in the experimental pharmacology. 

Rats being small in size (about 200gm), resemble human in several organ functions and nutrition, and sensitive to the most drugs make them very useful experimental animals. They do not have vomiting center and hence it is not possible to use them to study emetics. They do not have also gall bladder and tonsil.  

Albino mice

 White mice are the smallest laboratory animals used. They are sensitive to most of the drugs
used in experimental pharmacology. Mice are used extensively in toxicity study, bioassay of
drugs, testing of analgesics, CNS active drugs.

Albino mice

Rabbit

 Domestic Rabbits (2-3kg) are generally used for pyrogen testing. Rabbit is the most suitable
animal for the study of insulin and other anti-diabetic drugs.

Rabbit

Frog

Frog belongs to amphibian group. It is difficult to breed frogs in laboratory. They are commonly used in the study of the action of the drugs on central nervous system, on heart, on the neuro-muscular junctions as well as for the diagnosis of pregnancy.

Frog