Food allergy can result in significant morbidity and mortality in adults and
children. Animals are used to study and explore the pathological mechanisms of foodinduced sensitization and allergic reactions, and for experimenting with new modalities
of treatment. Murine species became the preferred choice as a model of food allergy
given the large accumulated work done in this field using the murine species leading to
solid experience and development of valid experiential tools to characterize and assess
immune mechanisms and reactions to food antigens. Other animals are used with
varying success and have advantages and disadvantages such as rats, guinea pigs, dogs,
pigs, and sheep. This chapter will describe these animal models highlighting their
advantages and disadvantages and similarities to human immune systems.
Keywords: Adjuvant, Animal model, Canine model, Dog model, Food allergy, Food hypersensitivity, Guinea pig model, Genetically modified mouse, Humanized/transgenic mouse model, Murine model, Mouse model, Pig model, Rat model, Swine model, Sheep model.
