title: An animal model of atherosclerotic plaque disruption and thrombosis in rabbit using pharmacological triggering to plaques induced by perivascular collar placement.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Limited availability of suitable animal model of plaque disruption and thrombosis has hampered the study of mechanism and preclinical evaluation of plaque-stabilizing therapies. This study aims to develop an animal model of atherosclerotic plaque disruption and thrombosis in rabbit femoral artery.
  
  
  METHODS
  Silastic collars were placed around the bilateral femoral arteries of rabbits, which had been fed with atherogenic diet for 7 days. After 28 days on the same diet, the rabbits received pharmacological triggering by intraperitoneal injection of Russell's viper venom (RVV, 0.15 mg/kg) followed by intravenous injection of histamine (0.02 mg/kg), and the animals were then processed for imageological and histological examinations.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Perivascular collar placement of the femoral artery in high-cholesterol-fed rabbits for 28 days induced marked intimal hyperplasia, which was a lipid- and collagen-rich lesion that contained substantial amount of macrophages and smooth muscle cells. Subsequent histological analysis showed that the pharmacological triggering evoked plaque disruption and platelet- and fibrin-rich thrombi in the collared femoral arteries.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We demonstrated, for the first time, a rabbit model of plaque disruption and thrombosis induced by the combination of perivascular collar placement, RVV, and histamine injections. This model can be rapidly formed, easily operated, and site controlled.
authors: Department of Cardiology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Harbin Medical University, Harbin 150001, People's Republic of China.
authors: Xin
authors: X
authors: Sun
authors: Wei
authors: W
authors: Cao
authors: Jinjin
authors: J
authors: Cui
authors: Liping
authors: L
authors: Wang
authors: Lansi
authors: L
authors: Ma
authors: Tengyu
authors: T
authors: Wang
authors: Chenghai
authors: C
authors: Peng
authors: Zhen
authors: Z
authors: Tian
authors: Sa
authors: S
authors: Shi
authors: Shuyuan
authors: S
authors: Guo
authors: Ye
authors: Y
authors: Tian
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D050197:Atherosclerosis / Q000097:blood / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000097:blood; D003250:Constriction; D004036:Diet, Atherogenic; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D018450:Disease Progression; D005263:Femoral Artery / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D006632:Histamine; D006965:Hyperplasia; D008297:Male; D058426:Neointima; D058226:Plaque, Atherosclerotic; D011817:Rabbits; D012422:Rupture, Spontaneous; D017840:Daboia; D013927:Thrombosis / Q000097:blood / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology; D013997:Time Factors; D014757:Viper Venoms
chemical_list: D014757:Viper Venoms; D006632:Histamine; D002784:Cholesterol
keywords: Atherosclerosis; Histamine; Russell's viper venom; Silastic collar; Thrombosis