Design of Animal Experiments in Pharmacological Research

Abstract

Pharmacology, also known as pharmaceutical science, has made significant progress, especially in the 20th century, and has played a fundamental role in the development of today's modern drugs. Pharmacology uses in vitro, in vivo, and clinical research stages in drug development. Experimental animals are of great importance in in vivo research. The majority of the drugs used today were developed thanks to animal research. Research in which experimental animals will be used should be planned carefully, and a minimum number of animals should be used since the subject is a living being. In addition, one of the most important ethical principles is to avoid procedures that may cause unnecessary torture and pain to animals during experiments. The purpose of pharmacological research is to develop drugs for the treatment or diagnosis of diseases. For this reason, it is aimed at determining the effects of the substance you are researching in the presence of disease. Immediate use of a substance whose effects were previously unknown on humans may lead to various adverse events and even death. After many events in the past, drug development stages have been determined by accepted international rules. According to these rules, the effect of the substance being investigated must be investigated in experimental animals that have been used as disease models before humans. Many disease models have been developed for this purpose. Drugs developed in these disease models created in experimental animals are now successfully used in the treatment of humans.