Rats are laboratory rodents, chiefly the species Rattus norvegicus, that serve as a foundational mammalian model in biomedical and physiological research. Their value derives from well-characterized genetics, short generation times, manageable size, and organ systems and metabolic pathways sufficiently homologous to…
Rats are laboratory rodents, chiefly the species Rattus norvegicus, that serve as a foundational mammalian model in biomedical and physiological research. Their value derives from well-characterized genetics, short generation times, manageable size, and organ systems and metabolic pathways sufficiently homologous to those of humans to permit translational inference. Standardized outbred and inbred strains, including Sprague Dawley, Wistar, and albino lines, allow reproducible experimental designs and controlled comparison across treatments. Rats are widely used to model induced disease states and to test interventions: streptozotocin-induced diabetes and its complications, lipopolysaccharide-driven oxidative stress and systemic inflammation, hypothalamic obesity, nephrotoxicity, hypothyroidism, and cardiovascular dysfunction induced by L-NAME and high-fat feeding. Experimental readouts typically combine histomorphometric analysis of tissues such as testis, liver, and endocrine glands with biochemical, hematological, and serum-cytokine measurements. Reproductive and developmental toxicology, neuroplasticity studies of pain perception in the dentate gyrus, and evaluation of nanoparticle and contraceptive exposures all rely on the rat. Because the model captures whole-organism integration of metabolic, endocrine, and immune responses, it remains central to preclinical pharmacology and toxicology. The journal publishes peer-reviewed studies using rat models across physiology, toxicology, reproductive biology, and therapeutic evaluation.
12 peer-reviewed articles, ranked by relevance. Each links to its DOI.
The 12 articles above have been cited 128 times in the scholarly literature. Citation data via OpenAlex and Crossref, updated Jun 2026.
A sample of recent works citing this journal's research on Rats, linking to each citing work.