Animal Models for Human Diseases

ANIMAL MODELS FOR HUMAN DISEASES JOHN H. RUST* Introduction For the most part the use of animal models for the study of human disease is a recent development. There was, however, a school of rabbis, some of whom were also physicians, in Babylon who studied and wrote extensively on ritual slaughter and the suitability of birds and beasts for food. Considerable detailed information on animal pathology, physiology , anatomy, and medicine in general can be found in the Soncino Babylonian Talmudic translations, often referred to as the Hullin. In addition, I have found theJewish Encyclopedia, particularly the edition of 1906, to be a rich resource. I have not been able to establish what diseases of animals were studied and their relationship to the diseases of man. However, there are fascinating clues to pursue, though these were sterile years for research in medicine. There is an interesting quotation, said to have been derived from the Hullin, that I want to share with you: "The medical knowledge of the Talmudist was based upon tradition, the dissection of human bodies, observation of disease and experiments upon animals." The one bright light in these lackluster years of medical research came from Galen, considered the originator of research in physiology and anatomy. His dissection of animals and work on apes and other lower animals were models for human anatomy and physiology and the bases for many treatises. A dominant figure in medicine for many centuries, Galen never seemed to suggest that animals could serve as models for human diseases. Neither does he ever mention the Talmudic scholars of Babylon; they must not have been known to him. I was also surprised that Avicenna (ibn Sina), the great Persian physician, poet, and politician , gave little consideration to animal diseases and, so far as I can determine, their use as possible models for the study of human diseases. *Professor emeritus, Departments of Radiology, Pharmacological and Physical Sciences, and the Franklin McLean Memorial Research Institute, University of Chicago. Address: 5715 South Kenwood, Chicago, Illinois 60637.© 1982 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved. 003 1-5982/82/2504-030 1$01 .00 662 I John H. Rust ¦ Animal Modelsfor Diseases Avicenna's medicine was quite metaphysical, probably the influence of Galen, Hippocrates, and Aristotle. Avicenna also seemed unaware of medicine as practiced by the Babylonian Talmudic scholars; perhaps this information was not brought by the pilgrimJews to Hamadan, the site of Avicenna's activities. Here, while riding horseback, he dictated to his scribe his Canon ofMedicine. It is difficult to fathom why Avicenna in his role as scientific adviser and military leader did not observe the similarities of the diseases of animals and man. He lived in the tenth and eleventh centuries when rabies, anthrax, and tuberculosis were present in man and animals. The Sterile Period Undoubtedly there were observant physicians who, during those centuries that followed, saw and wondered about the nature of diseases in both man and animals and how by studying one species much could be learned about another. If they did exist, and I believe they did, they did not write, so their names are lost, and if they spoke, their voices have beenlmuted with time. Most early physicians who can truly be considered to have been students of disease- developed their medical knowledge by observing the sick under their care. They were in contrast to the metaphysical types, who were dominant. In later years they had the advantage of the necropsy that on occasion followed the demise of their patient. But in truth that practice was somewhat distasteful and unacceptable socially, so only the very daring and resourceful would surreptitiously follow that course of learning. In veterinary medicine a unique practice arose and continued for many centuries. It was an attempt to liken animal diseases to those of man. In some cases it was successful, but in some the attempt produced odd results. Recently, while rereading McClure's Diseases ofthe American Horse, a nineteenth-century classic text in veterinary medicine, I came upon several paragraphs devoted to a disease termed Bill Brent. It was apparently a venereal disease that was likened to gonorrhea, and not surprisingly the treatment was the same that was...