Aging · Nov 11, 2026
Comprehensive healthspan assessments and influence of sex as a biological variable in aging rats
By Chandra A, Aversa Z, Zhang X et al.
Rats have significant genetic and physiological similarity with humans. Many biological processes and pathways are conserved between rats and humans, making rats a suitable model for studying aspects of human health and disease. Using rats as an aging model is perhaps a more ethical alternative to using larger, longer-lived animals such as primates. As compared to mice, as the preferred rodent species for many studies, rats display complex behavioral, cardiovascular, metabolic, and pharmacological responses that, in some experimental contexts, more closely resemble those observed in humans, thereby improving translational relevance. Rats are easier to handle in laboratory settings compared to non-human primates. Rats were used extensively in aging research before the development of transgenic mice, which led to a switch from rat to mouse models for aging research. Hence, there have been few studies comprehensively examining age-related changes in rat physiology using modern methods. Here we present a cross-sectional assessment of several aspects of Brown-Norway rat physiology and histopathology using molecular and functional assessments at 6-, 17- and 27 months of age. Our data provides age-related healthspan metrics as a reference for genetic or pharmacological aging studies in rats.