Animal models of coronary heart disease

Cardiovascular disease,predominantly coronary heart disease and stroke,leads to high morbidity and mortality not only in developed worlds but also in underdeveloped regions.The dominant pathologic foundation for cardiovascular disease is atherosclerosis and,as to coronary heart disease,coronary atherosclerosis and resulting lumen stenosis,even total occlusions.In translational research,several animals,such as mice,rabbits and pigs,have been used as disease models of human atherosclerosis and related cardiovascular disorders.However,coronary lesions are either naturally rare or hard to be fast induced in these models,hence,coronary heart disease induction mostly relies on surgical or pharmaceutical interventions with no or limited primary coronary lesions,thus unrepresentative of human coronary heart disease progression and pathology.In this review,we describe the progress of animal models of coronary heart disease following either spontaneous or diet-accelerated coronary lesions.

Effect of continuous positive airway pressure treatment on vascular endothelial function in patients with obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome and coronary artery disease

Background Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) treatment has been proven to be effective in improving the symptoms of coexisting coronary heart disease (CHD) in patients with obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS). However,it is still unclear whether such improvements are linked to changes in vascular endothelial function. This research was carried out to investigate the effects of CPAP treatment on vascular endothelial function in patients with OSAHS and CHD.Methods Thirty-six patients with moderate or severe OSAHS and CHD undergoing three months of CPAP treatment were recruited for this study. The changes in their morning plasma nitric oxide (NO) and endothelin (ET) levels,NO/ET ratio,total ischemic burden (TIB) of the myocardium,apnea hypopnea index (AHI),and minimal and mean pulse oxygen saturation (SpO_2) were compared and analyzed before and during CPAP treatment. Results Compared with the plasma levels of ET [(51.39±11.69) ng/L] and NO [(36.67±11.86) μmol/L],NO/ET (0.71±0.14),AHI (32.4±7.9),minimal SpO_2 [(68.9±11.4)%],and myocardial TIB [(66.29±16.37) mm·min] before treatment,there were significant decreases in ET [(33.41±10.03) ng/L] ( P <0.05),increases in NO [(59.89±10.26) μmol/L] and NO/ET (1.79±0.38) ( P <0.01),decreases in AHI (1.9±0.5),and increases in minimal SpO_2 [(90.6±1.8) %] (all P <0.01) and myocardial TIB [(36.42±10.87) mm·min] ( P <0.05) after three months of CPAP treatment.Conclusion CPAP treatment may play an important role in the improvement and protection of vascular endothelial dysfunction and myocardial ischemia in OSAHS patients with CHD.