The importance of animal specificity in animal experimentation, part II: Physiological challenges and opportunities in relation to pediatric urology

When performing animal experimentation in Pediatric Urology studies, it is important to be aware of physiological differences between species and to understand when relevant disease models are available. Diseased animal models may be more relevant in many cases, rather than performing studies in healthy and normally developed animals. For example, they may be more appropriate for the study of congenital malformations, to investigate the secondary effects of prenatal urinary obstruction, to study the effect of prenatal exposure to endogenous or exogenous factors which may lead to disease, or in testing bioengineered structures. In this short educational article, we aim to describe some disease models that have been used to simulate human pathologies and how, if properly designed, these studies can lead to important new knowledge for human translation. In addition, we also highlight the importance of formulating a research question(s) before deciding on the animal experimental model and species to choose.