Pathology of the Fischer Rat

Book excerpt: Studies in rodents of the toxicity and carcinogenicity of drugs, agricultural agents (e.g., pesticides and herbicides), environmental pollutants, industrial agents (e.g., solvents and intermediates), and other chemicals are the cornerstone of human safety evaluations in the development, use, and/or regulation of these agents. Those who perform the pathological evaluations from these studies need standard diagnostic criteria and pathology terminology. Pathology of the Fischer Rat is a comprehensive pathology reference text on the Fischer 344 rat, the strain widely used for safety evaluations and almost exclusively by the National Toxicology Program.****Every chapter follows the same format of introduction; embryology; normal anatomy, histology, and physiology; and congenital, degenerative, inflammatory and vascular, hyperplastic and neoplastic, miscellaneous, and toxicological lesions. The spectrum of spontaneous and treatment-related, neoplastic and nonneoplastic lesions found in each tissue is described and photographed.****The text is useful not only to pathologists but also to investigators from a variety of disciplines who use the rat as an animal model. It will also prove valuable to toxicologists, biologists, and other scientists engaged in regulatory toxicology who must make the transition from pathology results to promulgation of meaningful regulations.