Evidence mapPaperPMID 40744926Full record

ReviewCell death & disease2025

Critical analysis of translational potential of rodent models of white matter pathology across a wide spectrum of human diseases.

Wenxuan Zhou, Shiyue Xia, Chenmeng Wang, Qingwu Yang, Alexei Verkhratsky, Jianqin Niu

Abstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Cell death & disease, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
13citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

13 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. An AAV vector for glial cells.Nature biotechnology · 2026
    Article
  4. Review
  5. Large animal models of right heart failure due to pulmonary hypertension: a bridge to translational success.European respiratory review : an official journal of the European Respiratory Society · 2026
    Review
  6. Review
  7. Review
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Review
  11. Review
  12. Review
  13. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Wenxuan Zhou *Department of Histology and Embryology, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, 400038, China.
Shiyue Xia *Department of Histology and Embryology, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, 400038, China.
Chenmeng WangDepartment of Histology and Embryology, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, 400038, China.
Qingwu YangDepartment of Neurology, Second Affiliated Hospital, Chongqing Institute for Brain and Intelligence, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, 400037, China.
Alexei VerkhratskyFaculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, The University of Manchester, Manchester, M139PL, UK. Alexej.Verkhratsky@manchester.ac.uk.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2592-9898
Jianqin NiuDepartment of Histology and Embryology, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, 400038, China. jianqinniu@163.com.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Rodents are the most commonly used laboratory animals in medical research. However, significant evolutionary divergences between humans and rodents, particularly in the complexity of white matter connectome, which are fundamentally shaped by myelin as their major structural component, pose critical challenges in modeling the human neurological diseases. Given the divergences and central roles of myelin in pathology, a thorough reevaluation of the rodent models used in contemporary research is critical, alongside the careful selection, optimization, or de novo development of models that faithfully recapitulate human white matter disorders. In this review, we summarize the strengths and limitations of existing rodent models, emphasizing their contributions to understanding demyelinating pathologies across autoimmune, neurodegenerative, vascular, perinatal, traumatic, infectious and genetic diseases. We also overview white mater disease models using other species and human stem cells. Subsequently we discuss critical interspecies differences in white matter biology that may limit translational relevance, while highlighting how rodent models enhance our comprehension of various pathological conditions. Lastly, we outline strategies to refine rodent models through advanced genetic engineering, humanized microenvironments, and multimodal phenotyping, with the goal of progressively improving existing them to increase their preclinical translational potentials.

Indexed as

Translational Research, BiomedicalWhite MatterAnimalsDisease Models, AnimalHumansRodentia

Identifiers

PMID40744926
PMCPMC12313980

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.