Progress to date using large mammal animal models of traumatic brain injury

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a common cause of disability and death n the world, and the underlying mechanism of the disease remain largely unknown. The mechanisms by which TBI influences normal development and maturation remain largely unknown. Experimental models of brain injury are designed to mimic as closely as possible the clinical condition of TBI patients and have greatly improved our understanding of the complex mechanisms of TBI. While the most used animal models in TBI studies so far are rodents, there are significant drawbacks that have impeded the translation of research findings from labs to human. Due to the similarity of the large animal brain to human brain, we cann’t overlook the important role of large animals in determining the underlying mechanisms and screening putative therapeutic targets of TBI. This paper reviews progess to date and future directions of large animal models for studying traumatic brain injury, and discusses advantages and disadvantages about these animal models. Key words: Animal models; Traumatic brain injury