A novel method of standardized myocardial infarction in aged rabbits

作者:Morrissey Patrick J; Murphy Kevin R; Daley Jean M; Schofield Lorraine; Turan Nilufer N; Arunachalam Karuppiah; Abbott J Dawn; Koren Gideon*
来源:American Journal of Physiology - Heart and Circulatory Physiology, 2017, 312(5): H959-H967.
DOI:10.1152/ajpheart.00582.2016

摘要

The incidence of both myocardial infarction (MI) and sudden cardiac death increases with age. Here, we describe the development of a minimally invasive large animal model of MI that can be applied to young or aged animals. We demonstrate that rabbit coronary anatomy is highly variable, more so than described in previous literature. In this work, we categorize the coronary pattern of 37 young rabbits and 64 aged rabbits. Aged rabbits had a higher degree of branching from the left main coronary artery. Standardizing the model across age cohorts required a new approach, targeting an area of myocardium rather than a specific vessel. Here, we present a method for achieving a reproducible infarct size, one that yielded a consistent scar encompassing similar to 30% of the apical left ventricular free wall. The model's consistency allowed for more valid comparisons of MI sequelae between age cohorts. NEW & NOTEWORTHY This study describes the coronary angiographic imaging of young and aged rabbits. We developed and improved a novel minimally invasive approach for coil embolization that targets a specific area of myocardium and yielded a consistent scar encompassing similar to 30% of the left ventricular free wall of young and aged rabbit hearts.

  • 出版日期2017-5