title: Animal and cellular models for hypolipidemic drugs.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The development of effective and safe lipid-lowering agents should set out from and rely on robust preclinical investigation.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To accomplish this aim, the selection of proper cellular and animal models is crucial.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Because lipid-lowering agents are ultimately supposed to reduce the atherosclerotic burden in the arterial wall, they need to tackle directly or indirectly the multifactorial nature of atherosclerotic disease. Hence, these drugs may essentially prevent triglyceride-rich lipoprotein assembly or enhance low-density lipoprotein (LDL) clearance through the LDL or related receptors in the liver. Established animal models such as the apolipoprotein E- and the LDL-receptor knockout mice are widely used to test drug actions on these pathways. A different approach is testing the ability of candidate drugs to increase plasma high-density lipoprotein (HDL) levels. More recently, the focus has shifted to drugs enhancing HDL function rather than just plasma HDL levels. This in turn requires in vitro and particularly in vivo models of reverse cholesterol transport, which have become available by now.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A positive outcome of preclinical studies is necessary but not sufficient for an investigational new drug to be eventually approved for clinical use.
authors.affiliation: University of Padova, Department of Pharmacology and Anaesthesiology, Largo Meneghetti 2, 35131 Padova, Italy +39 049 8275091 ; +39 049 8275093 ; andrea.cignarella@unipd.it.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cignarella