[Value of primates for the evaluation of pulmonary pathology]

A delicate but contrived network of tissues adapted to hematosis, handling of mediators and defense toward inhaled xenobiotics makes up the lung. Response to aggression is strongly species dependent. The primate is mostly to be used when disease modeling in animals is needed for direct extrapolation to the human. Most current field of interest includes infectious pathology, respiratory distress and toxico-kinetics modelling of aerosol hazards.