ABSTRACT
Rabbits have been used in the study of a diverse array of scientific areas including cancer, cardiovascular disease, aging, ophthalmology, reproductive physiology, and infectious and parasitic diseases. They are also commonly employed in the production of antibodies and in pharmaceutical and environmental safety testing. Although samples for clinical chemistry analytes may be collected from any experimental model, discussion of rabbit models in this chapter focuses on those most applicable to veterinary clinical chemistry. Rabbits are also commonly used in a wide range of other cardiovascular diseases including myocardial infarction and cardiomyopathy. Many treatment, diagnostic, and testing modalities incorporate use of purposefully produced monoclonal or polyclonal antibodies. Rabbits have been consistently used for decades in the production of polyclonal antibodies. The rabbit possesses many unusual or unique anatomical and physiological characteristics on which researchers can capitalize when designing scientific studies.
