Title:The Chick Embryo Chorioallantoic Membrane Model: A Research
Approach for Ex Vivo and In Vivo Experiments
Volume: 29
Issue: 10
Author(s): Ana Isabel Fraguas-Sánchez*, Cristina Martín-Sabroso and Ana Isabel Torres-Suárez
Affiliation:
- Department of Pharmaceutics and Food Technology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Complutense University of
Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain
Keywords:
Angiogenesis, CAM assay, cancer, ex ovo, HET-CAM assay, in ovo, in vivo, toxicological studies.
Abstract:
Background: The chick chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) model has attracted
a great deal of interest in pharmaceutical and biological research as an alternative or complimentary
in vivo assay to animal models. Traditionally, CAM assay has been widely
used to perform some toxicological studies, specifically to evaluate the skin, ocular and
embryo toxicity of new drugs and formulations, and to perform angiogenesis studies. Due
to the possibility to generate the tumors onto the CAM, this model has also become an
excellent strategy to evaluate the metastatic potential of different tumours and to test the
efficacy of novel anticancer therapies in vivo. Moreover, in the recent years, its use has
considerably grown in other research areas, including the evaluation of new anti-infective
agents, the development of biodistribution studies and in tissue engineering research.
Objective: This manuscript provides a critical overview of the use of CAM model in
pharmaceutical and biological research, especially to test the toxicity of new drugs and
formulations and the biodistribution and the efficacy of novel anticancer and antiinfective
therapies, analyzing its advantages and disadvantages in comparison to animal
models.
Conclusion: The chick chorioallantoic membrane model shows a great utility in several
research areas, such as cancer, toxicology, biodistribution studies and anti-infective therapies.
In fact, it has become an intermediate stage between in vitro experiments and animal
studies, and, in the case of toxicological studies (skin and ocular toxicity), it has even replaced
the animal models.