^{The New Zealand White Rabbit as a Model for Preclinical Studies Addressing Tissue Repair at the Level of the Abdominal Wall}

Abstract

In this report, we review the use of the New Zealand White rabbit as the experimental animal for several models of abdominal wall repair. For the repair of an abdominal wall defect, such as a hernia in clinical practice, multiple types of prosthetic material exist. Before their marketing, each of these biomaterials needs to be tested in a preclinical setting to confirm its biocompatibility and appropriate behavior at the different tissue interfaces. For preclinical trials, we have always used the New Zealand White rabbit as the model owing to its ease of handling and suitable size. This size allows for laparoscopic studies designed to follow the behavior in real time of a biomaterial implanted at the peritoneal interface, a delicate interface that often gives rise to complications in human practice. The size of the rabbit also offers a sufficiently large number of implant samples to be harvested for a complete battery of tests at several time points postimplant. In this review, we first describe the models established and then provide the results obtained so far using these models to test the different types of biomaterial. We end our review with a discussion of the clinical implications of these results.

Self-adhesive hydrogel meshes reduce tissue incorporation and mechanical behavior versus microgrips self-fixation: a preclinical study

“…However, few publications, none of them related to Adhesix, have examined the mechanical behavior and host tissue response in preclinical animal models using the aforementioned self-fixing devices. In our study, the experimental animal was the New Zealand white rabbit, for which we have extensive experience [ 39 ]. The experimental model is an acute partial abdominal wall defect with a sufficient size to carry out both morphological and mechanical studies.…”

Antibacterial Biopolymer Gel Coating on Meshes Used for Abdominal Hernia Repair Promotes Effective Wound Repair in the Presence of Infection

“…Analgesic dose was administrated as described elsewhere [ 14 , 15 ]. Using a sterile surgical technique, partial hernia defects (5 × 2 cm) were created in the right anterior side of the abdominal wall, according to the protocol developed by our group [ 26 ]. The S. aureus suspension was prepared according to a method described elsewhere [ 14 ].…”

Rabbits as a biological model for experimental studies (review of literature)

“…Rabbits are also used in basic and biomedical research as models for studying diseases of the eyes, skin, heart and immune system, asthma, cystic fibrosis, and diabetes. The literature describes data that, using experiments on rabbits, it became possible to investigate the mechanisms involved in the production of insulin in diabetes [1].…”