Text Book of Pharmacological and Toxicological Screening Methods - I

Laboratory animals play a critical role in biomedical research, with common species including mice, rats, rabbits, and primates, each requiring specific handling and care to ensure welfare and scientific validity. Transgenic animals, genetically modified to express or knock out specific genes, are invaluable in studying gene function and disease mechanisms, demanding rigorous production and maintenance protocols to sustain their utility in research. Preclinical screening of new substances, whether in vivo, in vitro, or using alternative models, is fundamental for evaluating pharmacological activities, encompassing diverse therapeutic areas such as CNS pharmacology, respiratory and reproductive pharmacology, and cardiovascular pharmacology. Ensuring ethical standards, the CPCSEA guidelines dictate the conduct of animal experiments in India, promoting good laboratory practices to minimize suffering and enhance reproducibility. Complementing traditional bioassays, immunoassays offer sensitive and specific methods to quantify biological molecules, crucial for drug development and therapeutic monitoring, yet highlighting the ongoing need to balance animal use with emerging alternative methods.