title: Exploring the monocrotaline animal model for the study of pulmonary arterial hypertension: A network approach.
abstract: Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is responsible for the premature death mainly because of progressive and severe heart failure. This disease is characterized by increased pulmonary vascular tone, inflammatory cell infiltration, vascular remodeling and occlusion of vessels with thrombi, frequently leading to right heart failure. Aiming to better comprehend the complexity of PAH and find novel therapeutic strategies or improve the existing ones, a variety of preclinical models have emerged. Although there is no ideal preclinical model of PAH currently available, animal models have been used to assist in the identification of the molecular pathways underlying PAH development and progression, and in the identification of novel therapeutics. Among preclinical models of PAH, monocrotaline (MCT) animal model offers the advantage of mimic several key aspects of human PAH, including vascular remodeling, proliferation of smooth muscle cells, endothelial dysfunction, upregulation of inflammatory cytokines, and right ventricle failure, requiring a single drug injection. This review summarizes the advantages and limitations of MCT animal model to the study of the molecular mechanisms underlying PAH pathogenesis, envisioning to improve the diagnosis and management of this complex disease.
authors.affiliation: QOPNA, Department of Chemistry, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal; Department of Physiology and Cardiothoracic Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: Rita
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nogueira-Ferreira
authors.affiliation: QOPNA, Department of Chemistry, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal; iBiMED, Institute for Biomedical Research, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal.
authors.forename: Rui
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Vitorino
authors.affiliation: QOPNA, Department of Chemistry, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal. Electronic address: ritaferreira@ua.pt.
authors.forename: Rita
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ferreira
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology and Cardiothoracic Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal. Electronic address: henriques.coelho@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Tiago
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Henriques-Coelho
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D006801:Humans; D006976:Hypertension, Pulmonary / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000503:physiopathology; D051379:Mice; D016686:Monocrotaline; D051381:Rats
chemical_list: D016686:Monocrotaline
keywords: Inflammation; Preclinical models; Pulmonary arterial hypertension; Vascular remodeling