ABSTRACT
Most medical advances have been the product of both basic and applied research
and are based mainly on research in animal models. However, there have been
cases where efficacy and toxicity studies in animals failed to predict clinical
outcomes. These differences could be due, in part, to major species differences
between the animal models used and humans. Rodents are the most commonly
used species for cardiovascular research, whereas nonhuman primates, which
have the greatest genetic and physiological similarity to humans, account for less
than 0.3% of animal research in the United States.
