Importance of Zebrafish as an Efficient Research Model for the Screening of Novel Therapeutics in Neurological Disorders

Abstract

Over the previous years, the use of an animal model has become very common for the screening of novel drugs. Animal model represents the complex problems of humans into the simplest forms, so these can be extended further to be included in the experimental procedure. The most successful models in neuroscience, rats and mice, are undoubtedly considered as one of the best models to understand the psychology of the mammalian brain and its associated functions involved in behavioral repertoire. Moreover, recently researchers in behavioral neuroscience are focusing more on the use of aquatic animals, especially fish, as model species due to their simplicity and cost-effectiveness. Zebrafish (Danio rerio) is a tropical fish from the minnow family, a genetic structure surprisingly 84% similar to humans. It is gaining popularity as a model to study the mechanism in behavioral neuropharmacology. Moreover, zebrafish has numerous advantages over other rodent models like the ease in maintenance due to their small size, more breeding power, transparency of embryos, overall reduced cost of experimentation, and many more. Nowadays, it is considered an ideal model to study the neurobehavioral aspects with relevance to humans. It is also used in a variety of scientific studies like genetics, neuroscience, pharmacology, and toxicology. In this manuscript, we have described the feasibility and importance of zebrafish as a model for the screening of novel drugs for different neurological disorders.