Animal models of cardiovascular diseases provide essential approaches to improve diagnosis and treatment, though no single model perfectly recreates human pathology.
This review provides an overview of animal models used in cardiovascular research, highlighting the importance of selecting the appropriate model based on the specific disease and available resources.
Cardiovascular diseases are the first leading cause of death and morbidity in developed countries. The use of animal models have contributed to increase our knowledge, providing new approaches focused to improve the diagnostic and the treatment of these pathologies. Several models have been developed to address cardiovascular complications, including atherothrombotic and cardiac diseases, and the same pathology have been successfully recreated in different species, including small and big animal models of disease. However, genetic and environmental factors play a significant role in cardiovascular pathophysiology, making difficult to match a particular disease, with a single experimental model. Therefore, no exclusive method perfectly recreates the human complication, and depending on the model, additional considerations of cost, infrastructure, and the requirement for specialized personnel, should also have in mind. Considering all these facts, and depending on the budgets available, models should be selected that best reproduce the disease being investigated. Here we will describe models of atherothrombotic diseases, including expanding and occlusive animal models, as well as models of heart failure. Given the wide range of models available, today it is possible to devise the best strategy, which may help us to find more efficient and reliable solutions against human cardiovascular diseases.
Zaragoza et al. (Sat,) conducted a review in Cardiovascular diseases. Animal models was evaluated. Animal models of cardiovascular diseases provide essential approaches to improve diagnosis and treatment, though no single model perfectly recreates human pathology.