Source
Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer, Hospital Clínic, Barcelona, España.
Abstract
INTRODUCTION:
The advance in the achievement of effective therapies for multiple sclerosis (MS), the definition of appropriate therapeutic windows and to establish better diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers have become a challenging task for both researchers and clinicians. Some pitfalls in clinical trials might be related to lack of adequacy of the preclinical studies in MS experimental animal models.
AIM:
To standardize the methodological protocols of experimental models by developing a set of guidelines for preclinical studies by groups of experts from REEM (Spanish Network for MS).
DEVELOPMENT:
A guide with recommendations for the application of MS models including a detailed assessment of appropriate experimental models taking into account the objective of the study that has been presented. Standards and quality criteria necessary in a preclinical study have been included.
CONCLUSIONS:
Standardized animal models of MS are essential to increase the success of the preclinical findings in order to transfer them to the clinical practice.