A Survey of Venous Thrombosis Models

Animal models have played a crucial role in the development of new antithrombotic drugs during the past few decades. Through the use of these animal models, the differentiation between the anticoagulant and antithrombotic effects was first recognized. Drugs that were unable to produce a prolongation of blood clotting time were found to produce antithrombotic effects in animal models, and a recognition that endogenous effects in the intact animal resulting from the metabolic transformation of the drug and/or release of antithrombotic substances was appreciated. Without the use of intact animal models, such an observation would not have been possible.