Animals & Research Part 1: Unlocking the secrets of genetic disease through animal research

In my office and at the hospital, I diagnose and treat a myriad of illnesses - some life-threatening, others not so serious. In performing these tasks, I need to keep up with the advances that make it possible to treat these illnesses. I also need to talk with my patients about the medical procedures, surgery and medicines I recommend and/or prescribe and the research that makes them safe and effective.

A young patient, Bobby, recently came to my office with a fever and complaints of ear pain. The diagnosis - a middle-ear infection - is common, particularly in children, and accounts for many a missed school day. While the infection can usually be cured with an antibiotic, in the future most children will not get this infection because of a recently developed vaccine.

This vaccine was first shown to be effective and safe in studies involving rats, guinea pigs and chinchillas. I told Bobby's mother that this vaccine, which immunizes infants and children against the organism that causes the infection, will soon be available - in time to protect his baby sister. Not only will this vaccine decrease the incidence of recurring infections, it also will reduce the need for taking antibiotics.

I tell Mrs. D, who once had serious chest pain, that the device used to open up the blockage in her heart arteries was first tested and perfected in dog studies. During their training, the surgeons who performed her subsequent bypass surgery were able to practice and perfect their surgical skills on dogs, before operating on humans. Growing pressure by animal rights groups has recently caused some medical schools to close their dog laboratories. For these future surgeons, their first introduction to performing complex procedures will be on patients. I am concerned about how this will affect the future of these people.

Animal models have been the key to unlocking the secrets of many genetic diseases. The genetic makeup of animals and humans is similar, which has allowed scientists to study diseases in animals with genetic defects similar to those in humans.

One day, Jim came in complaining that he spontaneously fell asleep under the most embarrassing situations: at work, with guests and while watching his favorite football team. A neurological exam confirmed that he had narcolepsy, a disease caused by a defective version of the gene called hypocretin receptor 2.

Much of what we know about narcolepsy comes from studies on a breed of dogs that has a similar genetic defect resulting in comparable symptoms.

These dogs were also used to initially test the effectiveness of certain drug therapies, including the one I prescribed to Jim. This drug alone is ultimately expected to help the 250,000 Americans with narcolepsy, as well as dogs with the disorder.

The flu has been a major cause of days lost from work and even death in young and old. Jackie recently came to the office with a fever of 102 degrees and a bad cough; she was feeling horrible. Examination and initial laboratory tests suggested she had the flu and, while waiting for confirmation of viral tests, she was prescribed a new "anti-viral" antibiotic designed specifically to combat influenza. This drug is the result of years of testing, first in rats and rabbits, and then in humans, and represents a major advance against this illness.

Sarah has diabetes. The insulin she requires allows her to live a relatively normal life; until recently, the insulin was derived solely from the pancreas glands of pigs and cows. Recent advances in recombinant molecular biology techniques have made human insulin available, as well.

Insulin-dependent diabetes was uniformly fatal before the 1920s when Drs. Frederick G. Banting and Charles H. Best, through experiments in dogs, proved that insulin corrected the disorder. On the horizon, thanks to experiments in several animal species, is the hope that the specific pancreas cells that produce insulin (islet cells) can be transplanted into any diabetic and cure the condition, eliminate the need for insulin shots and eliminate long-term complications.

There are many other stories I could tell about how my patients have benefited from animal research. The hypertension medication, the ultrasound technology and the organ transplant techniques and immunological methods were all made possible because of experiments using animals.

Animals & Research, a five-part series

Part 1: Unlocking the secrets of genetic disease through animal research
Part 2: Improving medical treatments for animals
Part 3: Animals are key to discovering new medicines
Part 4: The ethics of using animals in research
Part 5: How research animals live

Some patients express concern for these animals and ask why they need to be used for research. I reassure them that researchers must comply with strict federal regulations requiring care and use protocols be carefully reviewed by an animal care committee, whose membership must include an experienced scientist, a veterinarian and a member of the general public. Alternatives to animals are used whenever possible (cell and tissue cultures and computer modeling), but these findings ultimately need to be confirmed in a complex intact animal.

I also try to put the use of research animals into perspective. More than 95 percent of all animals used for research in the United States are laboratory-bred rats and mice. Contrary to popular belief, dogs, cats and primates together account for only about 1 percent of all the animals used in research. Data from October 1997 through September 1998 indicate that about 100,000 dogs and cats were used in research in that year, which compares with between 2 million to 7 million unwanted dogs and cats killed annually in the nation's pounds, as reported by the Humane Society of the United States.

Bobby and his sister; Jackie; Jim; and Sarah, as well as every American alive today, have benefited in some way from animal research. However, many other illnesses still are in need of cures, such as cancer, AIDS, Alzheimer's and others. It is the promise of animal research that provides our hopes for having longer, healthier lives.

Joseph W. Eschbach, M.D., practices medicine in Seattle. He is president of the Washington Association for Biomedical Research.

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