Research Models
T2DN
The T2DN rat was developed by combining the genomes of the Goto-Kakizaki (GK) rat, which develops diabetes but not renal disease, with important regions of the genome of the Fawn Hooded Hypertensive (FHH) rat, which develops renal disease but not diabetes.
PhysioGenix's patented T2DN rat model displays early-onset of type-2 diabetes with insulin-resistance and lipid disorders. The model also recapitulates the chronology of events in diabetes and the histological changes in diabetic-nephropathy that are characteristic of diabetic patients. The model is typically used for proof-of-therapeutic concept studies in the younger animals and as a model system for progressive renal disease resembling those seen in humans, in the older animals.
PharmGenix
For safety and toxicity testing, the Sprague-Dawley Rat (SD), is frequently used to mimic a human population. However, genotypic analysis revealed that SD rats have less genetic diversity expected and demonstrated batch specific genotypes. The goal of screening a population is to capture diversity, thereby enriching the prospects of detecting an adverse drug response if it exists. The PharmGenix Panel or rat test population is constructed by a combinatorial breeding strategy using four strains of rats selected for diversity.
HyperGenix
Humans have a varied response to existing hypertension drugs (ACE inhibitors and Diuretics) requiring that separate incentivation is necessary to effectively control hypertension. This is likely due to complex multifactorial gene and environmental interactions. HyperGenix rats are a reproducible animal model to identify drugs that impact hypertension for the majority of the human population.
Determine the most effective anti-hypertensive drug by testing a population of HyperGenix rats and assess disease markers using clinical chemistries, urinalysis, and histology. Each HyperGenix test population is generated from four inbred rat strains having different forms of essential hypertension.
Consomic Rat Panels
Consomic rat panels consist of 22 rat strains per panel in which one chromosome at a time has been transferred from a disease-resistant rat strain (Brown Norway) onto the genetic background of an inbred disease-susceptible rat strain (Dahl Salt-Sensitive or Fawn Hooded Hypertensive). By comparing function in rats of each of the 22 strains, the Consomic rat panel can be used to identify chromosomes and key genes contributing to the pathogenesis of common diseases of the heart, lung, kidney, vasculature, and blood.
The Consomic panels can also be used as a general genetic discovery tool. In this case, they can help narrow the search for regions of the genome that determine strain differences in most biologic or drug responses to a single chromosome containing less than 5% of the genome.