Rationale Despite four decades of intense effort and substantial financial investment, the cardioprotection field has failed to deliver a single drug that effectively reduces myocardial infarct size in patients. A major reason is insufficient rigor and reproducibility in preclinical studies. Objective To develop a multicenter randomized controlled trial (RCT)-like infrastructure to conduct rigorous and reproducible preclinical evaluation of cardioprotective therapies. Methods and Results With NHLBI support, we established the Consortium for preclinicAl assESsment of cARdioprotective therapies (CAESAR), based on the principles of randomization, investigator blinding, a priori sample size determination and exclusion criteria, appropriate statistical analyses, and assessment of reproducibility. To validate CAESAR, we tested the ability of ischemic preconditioning (IPC) to reduce infarct size in three species (at two sites/species): mice (n=22-25/group), rabbits (n=11-12/group), and pigs (n=13/group). During this validation phase, i) we established protocols that gave similar results between Centers and confirmed that IPC significantly reduced infarct size in all species, and ii) we successfully established a multi-center structure to support CAESAR’s operations, including two surgical Centers for each species, a Pathology Core (to assess infarct size), a Biomarker Core (to measure plasma cardiac troponin levels), and a Data Coordinating Center – all with the oversight of an external Protocol Review and Monitoring Committee. Conclusions CAESAR is operational, generates reproducible results, can detect cardioprotection, and provides a mechanism for assessing potential infarct-sparing therapies with a level of rigor analogous to multicenter RCTs. This is a revolutionary new approach to cardioprotection. Importantly, we provide state-of-the-art, detailed protocols (“CAESAR protocols”) for measuring infarct size in mice, rabbits, and pigs in a manner that is rigorous, accurate, and reproducible.

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Background Patients at increased risk for coronary artery disease and adverse prognosis during heart failure exhibit increased levels of circulating trimethylamine N‐oxide ( TMAO ), a metabolite formed in the metabolism of dietary phosphatidylcholine. We investigated the efficacy of dietary withdrawal of TMAO as well as use of a gut microbe‐targeted inhibitor of TMAO production, on cardiac function and structure during heart failure. Methods and Results Male C57 BLK /6J mice were fed either control diet, a diet containing TMAO (0.12% wt/wt), a diet containing choline (1% wt/wt), or a diet containing choline (1% wt/wt) plus a microbial choline trimethylamine lyase inhibitor, iodomethylcholine (0.06% wt/wt), starting 3 weeks before transverse aortic constriction. At 6 weeks after transverse aortic constriction, a subset of animals in the TMAO group were switched to a control diet for the remainder of the study. Left ventricular structure and function were monitored at 3‐week intervals. Withdrawal of TMAO from the diet attenuated adverse ventricular remodeling and improved cardiac function compared with the TMAO group. Similarly, inhibiting gut microbial conversion of choline to TMAO with a choline trimethylamine lyase inhibitor, iodomethylcholine, improved remodeling and cardiac function compared with the choline‐fed group. Conclusions These experimental findings are clinically relevant, and they demonstrate that TMAO levels are modifiable following long‐term exposure periods with either dietary withdrawal of TMAO or gut microbial blockade of TMAO generation. Furthermore, these therapeutic strategies to reduce circulating TMAO levels mitigate the negative effects of dietary choline and TMAO in heart failure.

When implanted in the form of a tubular valve, the acellular ECM bioscaffold demonstrates feasibility as a biomechanically sound bioprosthetic tricuspid valve replacement with evidence of progressive endothelialization and constructive tissue remodeling.