Review of the UBC Porcine Model of Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury
- Author:
Kyoung Tae KIM
1
;
Femke STREIJGER
;
Neda MANOUCHEHRI
;
Kitty SO
;
Katelyn SHORTT
;
Elena B OKON
;
Seth TIGCHELAAR
;
Peter CRIPTON
;
Brian K KWON
Author Information
- Publication Type:Review
- Keywords: Spinal cord injuries; Porcine model; Translational medical research; Preclinical testing
- MeSH: Animals; British Columbia; Humans; Mice; Models, Animal; Rats; Rodentia; Spinal Cord Injuries; Spinal Cord; Swine; Translational Medical Research
- From:Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society 2018;61(5):539-547
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:English
- Abstract: Traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) research has recently focused on the use of rat and mouse models for in vivo SCI experiments. Such small rodent SCI models are invaluable for the field, and much has been discovered about the biologic and physiologic aspects of SCI from these models. It has been difficult, however, to reproduce the efficacy of treatments found to produce neurologic benefits in rodent SCI models when these treatments are tested in human clinical trials. A large animal model may have advantages for translational research where anatomical, physiological, or genetic similarities to humans may be more relevant for pre-clinically evaluating novel therapies. Here, we review the work carried out at the University of British Columbia (UBC) on a large animal model of SCI that utilizes Yucatan miniature pigs. The UBC porcine model of SCI may be a useful intermediary in the pre-clinical testing of novel pharmacological treatments, cell-based therapies, and the “bedside back to bench” translation of human clinical observations, which require preclinical testing in an applicable animal model.
