The present invention provides a pharmacological evaluation test (PET) model for evaluating candidate compounds for physiological and pharmacological effects in a single animal. Test systems and pharmacological functions which can be assessed using the present invention include but are not limited to: central nervous system (e.g., behavioral, neurologic and autonomic overt effects using, for example, a modified Irwin profile); cardiovascular and central nervous systems (e.g., blood pressure, heart rate, motility using, for example, a telemetric system); pulmonary system (e.g., frequency and tidal volume using, for example, a chamber plethysmograph technique); renal function (e.g., urine output, creatinine excretion, and electrolyte excretion using, for example, metabolic cages); complete blood cell and white blood cell differential counts; clinical chemistries indicative of liver and kidney function; blood plasma and brain tissue for compound level determinations; organ weight ratios; metabonomics; and proteomics; genomics and imaging evaluations.
Pharmacological evaluation test (PET) in animals for continuous assessment of physiological functions