Laboratory Rats: Anatomical and Physiological Notes

Abstract

The laboratory rat was domesticated and bred from initially wild-ranging brown rats. While it is not clear when and where this process occurred, it is obvious that this animal was used as an object for experiment as early as in Egypt, although the first documented reports come from Greece, about 250 BC, when Aristotle conducted autopsies in dogs. A sharp increase in experimental work with animals occurred after World War II as a result of sprouting military industry and big capital projects in pharmaceutical industry and biomedical research. In the 1930s, there were three trends in the management of experimental animals. Firstly, there was a tendency seeking to produce experimental models at the level of tissue and cell cultures. Secondly, introduction of new species was underway. The last trend was the development of inbred (blood relatives) and outbred (unrelated by blood) strains, whilst working to improve the overall health condition of the animals. The chapter describes briefly history of rat as an experimental animal and more detailed anatomy of single systems.