Models of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in laboratory animals are important tools for
research into pathogenic mechanisms and the development of effective and safe therapies.
Rodent models (rats and mice) are the most widely used and have provided important
information about the pathogenic mechanisms operating in the disease. However, the
evolutionary distance between rodents and humans hampers the translation of scientific
principles into effective therapies. This has in part resulted in a high attrition rate of new
drugs to get approved for patient use and a concomitant dramatic increase in the cost for the
development of these new drugs. The impact of the genetic distance between the species is
especially seen for treatments based on human specific biological molecules, which are
usually species-specific and are now successfully used in the treatment of RA. Non-human
primates may help to bridge the evolutionary gap between rodent models and the patient
because of their phylogenetic proximity. Here, we review two non-human primate models of
inflammatory arthritis, specifically the rhesus monkey (Macaca mulatta) and the common
marmoset (Callithrix jacchus).
Keywords: Animal model, biomarker, drug discovery, drug development,
efficacy, inflammation, inflammatory arthritis, non-human primate, rheumatoid
arthritis, rodent, translational model, collagen-induced arthritis, autoimmune
mediated disease, pre-clinical models, rhesus monkey, common marmoset.
