  |
|
 'We need to use animals to test drugs and other substances: the
animal testing provides us with information about how the
drug/substance will effect human beings'.(Typical statement by vivisector/pro-vivisectionist). 'Animal studies
are the only reliable alternative to human testing...'.('A look at animal use in the science of toxicology' (Washington: Society of Toxicology, July 1989)). 'Animals,
because of their striking parallels to the human system serve as
the best, most scientifically valid surrogates for people in
biomedical research and testing'.('With respect to life: protecting human health and the environment through laboratory animal research' (Bethesda: National Institutes of Health, August 1990)). |
| Drug | Activity in animals | Activity/possible complications in humans | |
| (1) | Accutane (for acne) | Safe | Birth defects |
| (2) | Acetycholine (a natural body chemical) | Dilates coronary arteries of dogs | Constricts the coronary arteries |
| (3) | Aminoglutethimide (Elipten) | Anticonvulsant | Cortisol inhibitor |
| (4) | Amydopyrine (pain killer) | No important side-effects | Blood disease |
| (5) | Amyl Nitrate | Glaucoma (High internal eye pressure) | Reduces internal eye pressure |
| (6) | Antimony | Fattens pigs | Fatal |
| (7) | Arsenic | Safe in large quantities in sheep | Death |
| (8) | Aspirin | Kills cats; causes birth defects in dogs, monkeys, rats and cats | Analgesic and retards blood coagulation |
| (9) | Atromid (to reduce blood cholesterol) | Different | Death from cancer, gallbladder disease and pancreas inflammation |
| (10) | Bradykinin (a body chemical) | Contracts brain blood vessels in dogs | Relaxes brain blood vessels |
| (11) | Butazolidine (for arthritis) | Does not harm the bone marrow | Aplastic anemia due to bone marrow damage; frequently fatal |
| (12) | Chloramphenicol (antibiotic) | Safe | Irreversible damage to the bone marrow |
| (13) | Chloroform | Danger is one of asphyxia | Commonest cause of death is heart failure |
| (14) | Chlorpromazine (Thorazine) | Antimotion sickness | Tranquilizing and may cause liver damage |
| (15) | Chymotrypsin (for cataract) | Corneal perforation; serious damage to rabbit's eye | No serious complications |
| (16) | Clindamycin (an antibiotic) | Safe when tested on rats and dogs | Diarrhea: sometimes fatal results |
| (17) | Clioquinol (antidiarrhea) | Not reported | Blindness, paralysis and death |
| (18) | Clonidine (Catapres) | Nasal decongestant | Anti-hypertensive; also prevents/limits narcotics withdrawal symptoms |
| (19) | Cortisone (anti-arthritis and anti-allergy) | Birth defects in pregnant mice and rabbits | Endocrine problems, high blood pressure, psychosis, and other major problems, but no birth defects |
| (20) | Cyanide | Safe for owls | Death |
| (21) | Depo-Provera (injectable long-acting contraceptive) | Cancer; breast and uterine infections in dogs | Considered safe |
| (22) | DES (to prevent miscarriage) | Safe | Cancer in daughters of mothers who used DES, and birth defects in their grandchildren |
| (23) | Digitalis (for heart failure and abnormal heart rhythm) | Causes high blood pressure in dogs | Does not cause high blood pressure |
| (24) | Dinitrophenol (for obesity) | Does not cause cataracts | Causes cataracts |
| (25) | Diptrex (organophosphate pesticide) | No nerve damage | Nerve damage |
| (26) | Disulfiram (Antabuse) | Antihelminthic (against some parasites) | Creates toxic reaction after consuming alcohol |
| (27) | Domperidone (to treat nausea and vomiting induced by anticancer drugs) | No changes in heart rhythm | Serious heart irregularities (arrhythmias) |
| (28) | Encainide (for irregular heart) | Safe | Heart attack and death. With flecainide, some 3000 people may have died after using these drugs. Withdrawn in 1989 |
| (29) | Eraldin (practolol) (heart drug) | Reasonably safe | Corneal damage including blindness; also digestive tract damage and death. Withdrawn in 1976 |
| (30) | Fenclozic acid (antiarthritis) | Safe in rats, mice, dogs and monkeys | Liver toxicity. Withdrawn from human usage |
| (31) | Flecainide | Safe | Heart attacks and death. With encainide, some 3000 people may have died after using these drugs. No more used since April 1989 |
| (32) | Fluoride | None | Inhibits dental caries |
| (33) | Furmethide (eye drops to treat glaucoma) | Safe, even when instilled in rabbit's eyes for months | Permanent obstruction of tear passages in majority of patients when drug used for 3+ months. |
| (34) | Furosemide (Lasix, a diuretic) | Liver damage in mice and others | No liver damage |
| (35) | Glutethimide (Doriden) | Anticonvulsant | Sedative and hypnotic |
| (36) | Halothane (general anesthetic) | No liver damage | Liver damage and many deaths |
| (37) | Holofenate | Hypolipemic | Hypouricemic |
| (38) | Ibufenac (anti-inflammatory) | No liver damage; only a minor effect in rats when exposed to lethal doses | Liver damage and death: withdrawn |
| (39) | Imipramine (Tofranil) | Depressant | Antidepressant |
| (40) | Iron sorbitol (injectable iron to treat anemia) | Cancer at injection site | No cancers developed |
| (41) | Isoniazide (for treating tuberculosis) | No liver damage | Can cause liver damage |
| (42) | Isopreterenol (spray for asthma relief) | No important side effects | Thousands of deaths |
| (43) | Ketoconazole (antifungal) | Safe | Liver damage and death |
| (44) | Kanamycin (for some infections) | No major side effects | Deafness and kidney damage |
| (45) | Maxiton (diet pills) | Different | Damage to heart and nervous system |
| (46) | Methyldopa | Does not lower blood pressure | Highly effective in lowering high blood pressure |
| (47) | Methylsergide (for migraine) | No major side-effects | Retroperitoneal fibrosis (can be life-threatening), heart valve damage. |
| (48) | Mianserin (antidepressant) | No blood disorders | Can cause fatal blood disorders |
| (49) | Opren (for arthritis) | Safe in large doses in primates | Liver damage and death. Withdrawn 1982 |
| (50) | Oral contraceptives | Bleeding in dogs | Thrombosis, heart attacks, strokes and liver tumours |
| (51) | Penicillin | Kills guinea pigs | Useful anti-biotic |
| (52) | Pentazocine (Talwin) | Narcotic antagonist | Analgesic |
| (53) | Perhexiline (for angina) | No liver damage | Liver damage and death. Withdrawn |
| (54) | Phenacetin (pain-killer) | No major side-effects | Kidney and red blood cell damage |
| (55) | Phenformin (for diabetes) | Different | Death |
| (56) | Plaxin and Pronap (tranquilizer) | Different | Many infant deaths |
| (57) | Prenylamine (for angina) | Reduces heart rate in many | Ventricular tachycardia (serious type of fast heart rate). Withdrawn |
| (58) | Prostaglandins | Different effect on force/rate of heart contraction | Different |
| (59) | Psicofuranine (anti-cancer) | No heart damage in mice, rats, dogs and monkeys | Heart toxicity. Trials discontinued |
| (60) | Selacryn (diuretic) | Safe | Liver damage and fatalities. Withdrawn |
| (61) | Strychnine | Does not kill guinea pigs or monkeys | Death |
| (62) | Suprofen (for arthritis) | Safe | Major kidney problems. Withdrawn |
| (63) | Tegretol (for epilepsy) | Safe | Potentially fatal blood diseases; epidemiologic findings suggest increased incidence of birth defects |
| (64) | Thalidomide (tranquilizer) | Safe | Birth defects and fetal death |
| (65) | Trilergen (antiallergic) | Different | Hepatitis |
| (66) | Zimelidine (antidepressant) | Safe | Fever, liver problems, nerve damage and paralysis. Withdrawn 1983 |
| (67) | Zipeprol (cough depressant) | Deemed safe for humans | Severe neurologic symptoms at high doses - seizures and coma |
Source: Dr M. A. Fadali, Animal Experimentation: A Harvest of Shame (Los Angeles: Hidden Springs Press, 1996) pp.44-50.
|
'Aspirin is not only used successfully for pain relief and
fever reduction in humans, but for the prevention of
strokes, heart attacks and other illnesses. However,
aspirin causes birth defects in mice and rats, and results
in such extensive blood abnormalities in cats, that they
can only take twenty per cent of the human dosage every
third day. In the case of Ibuprofen, this causes kidney
failure in dogs - even at very low doses'. Dr Ray Greek and Jean. S. Greek, Sacred Cows and Golden Geese (London/New York: Continuum, 2000), p.71. |
| Chemical teratogen (i.e., causes birth defects) |
||
| aspirin | rats, mice, monkeys, guinea pigs, cats, dogs |
humans |
| aminopterin | humans | monkeys |
| azathioprine | rabbits | rats |
| caffeine | rats, mice | rabbits |
| cortisone | mice, rabbits | rats |
| thalidomide | humans | rats, mice, hamsters |
| triamcilanone | mice | humans |
|
| ||
| Respiratory parameter | Rat | Human |
| 1. Histamine | 15.8 | 27.7 |
| 2. Exogenous histamine catabolism | 44.2 | 29.2 |
| 3. Histamine release (a)Compound 48.80 (b)Cotton dust |
17.1 0 |
43.2 16.1 |
| 4. Lung morphometry (a)Branching angles (b)Symmetry (c)Diameter ratio of daughter branches at bifurcation (d)Number of diversions of tracheobronchial tree |
(a)Decrease with increasing depth in the lung (b)Less than humans (c)Greater than humans (d)More variable than humans |
(a)Increase with increasing depth in the lung |
| 5. Mucous flow patterns | 13.5 mm min-1 | 15 mm min-1 |
| 6. Bronchial glands | None | Numerous |
| 7. Position of lung to ground | Horiontal | Vertical |
| 8. Breathing | Obligate nose breathers | |
Source: E. J. Calebrese, 'Suitability of animal models for predictive toxicology: theoretical and practical consideration', Drug Meta. Rev., 15 (1984), pp.505-523.
| Drug | Human | Rhesus Monkey |
Dog | Mouse | Rat | Rabbit | Cat | Hexabarbitol | 6.0 | . | 4.3 | 0.3 | 2.3 | 1.0 | . | Meperidine (Dermerol) |
5.5 | 1.2 | 0.9 | . | . | . | . | Phenylbutazone (Butazolidin) |
72.0 | 8.0 | 6.0 | . | 6.0 | 3.0 | . | Ethyl biscoumacetate (Tromexan) |
2.0 | . | 21.0 | . | . | 2.0 | . | Antipyrine | 12.0 | 1.8 | 1.7 | . | . | . | . | Digitoxin | 216.0 | . | 14.0 | . | 18.0 | . | 60.0 | Digoxin | 44.0 | . | 27.0 | . | 9.0 | . | 27.0 |
Source: R. Levine, Pharmacology: Drug Actions & Reactions (Little, Brown & Co., 1978)
|
'A recent article in the Journal of the Veterinary
Medical Association gave examples - the LD50 (Lethal
Dose 50%) of digitoxin is 670 times greater in the rat than
in the cat. The anticancer medication azauridine is
tolerated by humans but causes lethal bone marrow
suppression in dogs. Serotonin raises blood pressure in
dogs and humans, but lowers it in cats. Diphenhydramine,
commonly marketed as Benadryl, works well in humans and
dogs - but at widely discrepant dosages, i.e., if humans
take more than one-fourth of the dose recommended for a
dog, they will sleep for two days. The female mouse microsome metabolizes chloroform ten times slower than the male mouse. Male mice are more susceptible to kidney damage from chloroform than are females. Mice, rabbits and horses cannot vomit, while dogs and cats can. As the journal concluded, 'it is unwise to extrapolate information concerning drugs from one species to another'. Fenclozic acid, a potential new anti-inflammatory drug, showed no side effects in mice, rats. dogs, rhesus monkeys, patas monkeys, rabbits, guinea pigs, ferrets, cats, pigs. cows, or horses - but the drug caused acute cholestatic jaundice, a type of liver failure, in humans. Tragedies like this happen all the time...'. Dr Ray Greek and Jean. S. Greek, Sacred Cows and Golden Geese (London/New York: Continuum, 2000), pp.119-120. |
| Chemical | Humans
LDLO (mg/kg) |
LD50 (mg/kg) | |||
| Rat | Mouse | Rabbit | Dog | ||
| Aniline | 350 | 440 | - | - | - |
| Amytal | 43 | 560 | - | 575 | - |
| Boric acid | 640 | 2,660 | 3,450 | - | - |
| Caffeine | 192 | 192 | 620 | - | - |
| Carbofuran | 11 | 5 | 2 | - | 19 |
| Lindane | 840 | 125 | - | 130 | 120 |
| Fenoflurazol | - | 238 | 1,600 | 28 | - |
| Cycloheximide | - | 3 | 133 | - | 65 |
| Aminopyrine | - | 1,380 | 1,850 | 160 | 150 |
Source: 'Of mice, models, and men' by Andrew N. Rowan, State University of New York Press, 1984. Source: Adapted from Christenson and Luginbuhl 1975; Sunshine 1979.
| Chemical | Carcinogen | |
| Yes | No | |
| Arsenic | Humans | Mice, Rats |
| Benzene | Humans | Mice |
| Iron oxide dusts | Humans | Hamsters, Mice, Guinea pigs |
| 2-naphthylamine | Dogs, Monkeys | Rats, Rabbits |
| Pronethal | Mice | Rats, Guinea pigs, Dogs |
Source: 'DLRM (Doctors and Lawyers for Responsible Medicine) oppose EU chemical testing plan'. News Bulletin, July 2001.
| Stimulants | |
| Pentylenetetrazol | 1x |
| Caffeine | 1x |
| Picrotoxin | 1x |
| Stychnine | 1x |
| Blood poisons | |
| Aniline | 1x |
| Potassium cyanide | 1x |
| Hydrocyanic acid | 1x |
| Potassium chlorate | 5-7x |
| Antipyretics-Analgesics | |
| Aspirin | 1x |
| Aminopyrine | 1 1/3-2x |
| Antipyrine | 5-10x |
| Hypnotics | |
| Phenobarbital | 1x |
| Tribromoethanol | 2-3x |
| Propallylonal | 3-4x |
| Cyclobarbital | 1.5-5x |
| Carbromal | 2-5x |
| Diallyl barbituric acid | 3-6x |
| Chloral hydrate | 10x |
| Barbital | 3-15x |
| Sulfonmethane | 6-18x |
| Chemotherapeutics | |
| Emetine | 1x |
| Sufanilamide | 2-4x |
| Quinine | 6-8x |
| Arsphenamine | 2-30x |
| Metabolic poisons | |
| Oxalic acid | 10-20x |
| Salicylic acid | 10-20x |
| Arsenic | 3-40x |
| Phosphorus | 10-60x |
| Disinfectants | |
| Potassium permanganate | 1x |
| Thymol | ca. 10x |
| Mercuric chloride | 3-12x |
| Iodoform | 4-100x |
| Local anaesthetics | |
| Dibucaine HCI | 2-5x |
| Tetracaine HCI | 7-12x |
| Alypin | 3-30x |
| Tropacocaine | 20-70x |
| Cocaine | 4-100x |
| Procaine | 30-150x |
| Autonomic nervous system drugs | |
| Physostigmine | 1x |
| Epinephrine | 10-15x |
| Atropine | 600-1000x |
| Pilocarpine | 500-2000x |
Source: The dangers of vivisection
