Invasive coronary imaging in animal models of atherosclerosis

Experimental disease models have enhanced our understanding of the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis development. For example, insight has been gained into the role of the endothelium, lipids, platelets and inflammation, as well as into potential diagnostic and therapeutic interventions. Moreover, transgenic and knock-out technologies have become a widespread approach and this is a growing field to assess the role of individual genes in vascular biology and pathology. However, atherosclerosis is most of all a multifactorial disease, influenced by a multitude of environmental factors. Therefore, it is important to also study non-transgenic animal models that closely resemble the human situation with atherosclerotic lesions at anatomical locations that mimic the clinical manifestation of the disease, e.g. coronary artery disease (CAD). Although no model completely mimics human atherosclerosis, much can be learned from existing models in the study of this disease, also with respect to the development of new interventions. Here, we describe the most relevant animal models of atherosclerosis, while focusing on CAD development and the use of coronary diagnostic and therapeutic interventions. In addition, we show examples of features of a large animal model of CAD including pictures of invasive coronary imaging.