Animal studies are often of poor quality, and their contribution to clinical medicine requires rigorous evaluation. Pound and colleagues analysed 25 systematic reviews of animal studies and found only six investigating how animal research had informed clinical research. The methodological quality of the studies was poor, some were run simultaneously with clinical trials, and in some cases negative findings from animal trials did not prevent subsequent clinical trials. Systematic reviews of animal studies can provide important insights into the validity and value of animal research, say the authors, and should precede clinical trials.
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Credit: RAGUET/PHANIE/REX