The golden Syrian hamster, Mesocricetus auratus, is a rodent of the family cricetidae originated from Syria. A mother and its litter were first captured in 1930 and bred at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Descendants of these captive hamsters were shipped to Britain in 1931 and their offspring were passed to private breeders. It is not clear how golden hamster arrived in North America but mitochondrial DNA analysis indicates that the domestic golden hamsters in the U.S. are descended from a single female hamster; likely the one captured in 1930.
Consequently, the current laboratory Syrian hamster lines are inbred. The Syrian hamster is a popular laboratory animal because it is small, has a fast reproductive rate, thrives in laboratory conditions and is easy to handle.
The Syrian hamster is a valuable research animal for the study of general mammalian physiological processes and as a model for human disease conditions. The hamster has several unique physiological attributes compared to other rodents that make it a superior model for studying some diseases. Syrian hamsters are well recognized as being an ideal model for dyslipidemia and associated diseases of the liver and heart because, like humans and not other rodents, the hamster expresses both CETP and HL. Additionally, the hamster is susceptible to many viruses that plague humans and exhibits physiological symptoms similar to humans.
Below is a list of some of the studies and research areas where the hamster has been of particular value.
| Research Area | Comment | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Cystic Fibrosis | Lung mucosecretory activity model | In Vitro Cell Dev Biol. 1985 Apr;21(4):207-15 |
| Cystic Fibrosis | Bile acid malabsorption model | Proc Soc Exp Biol Med. 1983 May;173(1):118-24. |
| Emphysema | Elastase induces severe emphysema in hamster | Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol. 2011 Jul;301(1):R148-58. |
| Clostridium difficile | Clindamycin induced sensitivity to C. difficile represents human disease | PLoS Pathog. 2013 May;9(5) |
| Reverse cholesterol transport | Expresses CETP and HL unlike other small mammals | J Lipid Res. 2010 April; 51(4): 763–770. |
| Cholesterol absorption and biliary lipid composition | Used to evaluate the effects of ezetimibe on cholesterol absorption | Am J Physiol Gastrointest Liver Physiol. 2008 Oct;295(4):G813-22. |
| Study of microvascular endothelium in vivo | Microvessels viewed by fluorescence microscopy in dorsal skin fold chamber | J Infect Dis. 2005 Feb 1;191(3):435-43. |
| Dislipidemia model | High fat, high cholesterol, high fructose diet induced dislipidemia. Response to niacin similar to human | Metabolism. 2013 Dec;62(12):1840-9. |
| Insulin resistance/metabolic syndrome | Study of inhibition of sphingolipid synthesis in dislipidemic model | Atherosclerosis. 2013 May;228(1):98-109. |
| Atherosclerosis | Study of treatment on cholesteryl ester and aortic total cholesterol as an indication of atherosclerosis | J Food Sci. 2010 May;75(4):H116-22. |
| Atherosclerosis | Use hamster for aortic lipid and plasma metabolome analysis because it is the best model for diet induced atherosclerosis | Cardiovasc Res. 2013 Mar 15;97(4):642-52. |
| Cholangiocarcinoma | In hamster liver fluke reliably produces cholangiocarcinoma | FASEB J. 2013 Nov;27(11):4572-84. |
| Liver steatosis | Liver steatosis is associated with diet induction of dislipidemia in hamster | J Nutr. 2012 Apr;142(4):704-9. |
| Viral Hemorrhagic Disease | More closely resembles disease symptoms in human than other rodent models | Viruses. 2012 Dec; 4(12):3754-3784 |
| Nipah Virus Infection | Vaccine study in hamsters predicts primate outcome | PLoS One. 2013;8(3) |
| Depression Disorders | Forced swim test. Simulated aggressive behavior in adolescents treated with fluoxetine | Behav Neurosci. 2012 Oct;126(5):640-53. |
| Depression Associated with Circadian Disruption | Hamsters stimulated depressive response to circadian disruptor and to SSRI therapy | Behav Neurosci. 2012 Oct;126(5):654-8. |
| Alzheimer’s Disease | Increased phosphorylation of tau occurs in both hibernating hamster and Alzheimer’s disease | PLoS One. 2011 Jan 18;6(1) |
| Anxiety Disorders | Diazepam was found to induce anxiolytic activity in three behavioral tests | Behav Brain Res. 2011 Mar 17;218(1):8-14. |
| Possible model for Seasonal Affective Disorder | Display depressive-like response to short days | Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2011 Jan;35(3):669-79. |
| Opioidergic Signaling in Heart Failure Development | Opioids depress cardiac function and may exacerbate cardiac dysfunction | J Mol Cell Cardiol. 2009 Oct;47(4):493-503. |
| Muscular Dystrophy | BIO14.6 hamster with mutation in the delta sarcoglycan gene causes MD and cardyomyopathy | Hum Gene Ther. 2013 Apr;24(4):424-30 |
| Dental Caries | Challenge with Actinomyces viscosus for study of root surface caries | Bull Tokyo Med Dent Univ. 1995 Dec;42(3):83-103. |
| Buccal Pouch Tumor Model | Oral tumors can be induced by painting buccal pouch with DMBA | Asian Pac J Cancer Prev. 2013;14(10):6001-5. |
| Oncolytic Adenovirus Treatment Model | Used to evaluate MRI and MRS in estimating oncolytic adenovirus efficacy | Int J Cancer. 2013 Nov 18. |