Recent Advances in the Development of Experimental Animal Models Mimicking Human Aortic Aneurysms

Abstract

Aortic aneurysm is a common and life-threatening disease that can cause death from rupture. Current therapeutic options are limited to surgical or endovascular procedures because no pharmacological approaches have been proven to decrease the chance of expansion or rupture. The best approach to the management of aortic aneurysm would be the understanding and prevention of the processes involved in disease occurrence, progression, and rupture. There is a need for animal models that can reproduce the pathophysiological features of human aortic aneurysm, and several such models have been studied. This review will emphasize recent advances in animal models used in the determination of mechanisms and treatments of aortic aneurysms.

Toll-like receptor-4 signaling pathway in aorta aging and diseases: “its double nature”

“…However, a model, which replicates the chronic disease in humans, remains to be produced. Recently, large mammal models have been used in the study of aortic aneurysms, including dog, pig, rabbit, sheep and turkey [130,131]. But they show other problems for which the solutions are far less evident.…”

“…sporadic TAA, providing the means to test new pharmacological interventions. However, there is a considerable debate in the field of aneurysm's research on disadvantages and advantages associated with the use of rat and mouse models, in which aneurysms can be generated in several experimental settings [130,131]. Animal models have provided useful information.…”

“…As a result, mouse models appear to be the best animal model in aneurysm study so far, as they are relatively small, easy to handle, and not expensive. In addition, they can be genetically manipulated to mimic human diseases, by generating "knockout" or "knock-in" models and increasing their longevity in a rapidly evolving field [130,131]. Thus, this might facilitate the identification of potential mechanisms and pathways related to aneurysms, such as sporadic TAA.…”

Visceral Branches of the Abdominal Aorta in the New Zealand Rabbit: Ten Different Patterns

“…The abdominal aorta of the rabbit has been in the focus of research to develop new platforms of training diagnostic and therapeutic protocols (Li et al, 2016); and for testing endovascular devices and materials (Simgen et al, 2016;Zhu et al, 2015) due to its capability for mimicking human aortic aneurysm disease (Fan et al, 2015;Yoo et al, 2015). However, few descriptions of the anatomy of the abdominal aorta and its emerging visceral branches has been reported on the scientific literature for this specie (Nowicki et al, 2010).…”

Micro-RNAs in abdominal aortic aneurysms: insights from animal models and relevance to human disease

“…Animal models of AAA used to study miRs Several experimental models of AAA have been developed over the past decades including genetic, surgical and chemically induced models in rodents or larger animals [51][52][53] . Surgical models directly induce mechanical injury within the arterial wall leading to AAA but require technically difficult procedures and expose the animals to prolonged anaesthesia.…”