Guinea Pigs Require Expertise; Provide Effective Model

At recent scientific conferences I’ve noticed a continued interest in using the guinea pig to screen for unanticipated cardiovascular activity of lead candidates.

At CorDynamics, we have used the guinea pig as an effective model for cardiovascular testing, when appropriate. Since they are smaller in size, guinea pigs can serve as viable species when compound supply is limited. In some cases, the guinea pig can use five times less compound to conduct studies than amounts needed for their larger non-rodent counterparts, such as rabbits.

While a plus in terms of compound conservation, their small size and inherent anatomical obstacles do pose potential roadblocks. This is especially true in the hands of less experienced technical personnel. Guinea pigs have rather obscure vascular access due to the lack of a tail and their orogastric structure can make orally dosing somewhat challenging.

Our team has worked extensively with the guinea pig to develop an expertise to overcome these inherent challenges. With this know-how at our disposal, we’ve been able to conduct isolated heart, anesthetized and conscious/telemetry guinea pig studies for a wide variety of clients. One of our latest developments is the validation of an ultra high fidelity QT interval correction in this species using a quasi beat-to-beat approach via telemetry.

Certainly, the guinea pig is not appropriate for every situation that may typically use a smaller animal such as the rat. However, with careful planning and expert execution, this species does indeed play a valuable role in the successful de-risking funnels employed by a number of our biopharmaceutical clients.