肾脏疾病高度普遍，全球约有8.5亿人受其影响。肾脏疾病与高病死率和病残率相关，当前的疗法常常无法治愈，效果有限。动物模型对于理解各种肾脏疾病的病理生理学以及进行新疗法的临床前测试至关重要。在过去的20年里，啮齿动物一直是最常用的模型，以模拟人类肾脏疾病，这主要归因于越来越多独特遗传改变的小鼠的增加。尽管存在许多局限性和缺陷，动物模型在获得关于肾脏疾病机制、病理学和治疗靶点的新见解方面发挥着重要而不可替代的作用。在本综述中，我们通过聚焦实验性急性肾损伤、慢性肾脏疾病和糖尿病性肾脏疾病，介绍了常用的肾脏疾病动物模型。我们简要概述了一些广泛使用的模型的病理特征、优点和缺点。此外，我们还讨论了新兴的动物模型，如迷你猪、犬蹄蝾螈、斑马鱼和果蝇，以及人源肾脏器官和肾脏芯片等。毫无疑问，精心选择和利用适当的动物模型对于解析肾脏疾病的机制以及评估新治疗选择的疗效至关重要。这些研究将为将来人类肾脏疾病的诊断、预防和治疗提供坚实的基础。版权所有 © 2023 作者。由 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. 代表 American Society of Nephrology 发布。

Kidney disease is highly prevalent and affects about 850 million people worldwide. It is also associated with high morbidity and mortality, and current therapies are incurable and often ineffective. Animal models are indispensable for understanding the pathophysiology of various kidney diseases and for preclinically testing novel remedies. In the last two decades, rodents continue to be the most used models for imitating human kidney diseases, largely due to the increasing availability of many unique genetically modified mice. Despite many limitations and pitfalls, animal models play an essential and irreplaceable role in gaining novel insights into the mechanisms, pathologies and therapeutic targets of kidney disease. In this review, we highlight commonly used animal models of kidney diseases by focusing on experimental acute kidney injury, chronic kidney disease, and diabetic kidney disease. We briefly summarize the pathological characteristics, advantages and drawbacks of some widely used models. Emerging animal models such as mini-pig, salamander, zebrafish and drosophila, as well as human-derived kidney organoids and kidney-on-a-chip are also discussed. Undoubtedly, careful selection and utilization of appropriate animal models is of vital importance in deciphering the mechanisms underlying nephropathies and evaluating the efficacy of new treatment options. Such studies will provide a solid foundation for future diagnosis, prevention and treatment of human kidney diseases.Copyright © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. on behalf of the American Society of Nephrology.