Custom Animal Models of Heart Valve Disease
Inquiry
Heart valve disease is an irreversible and progressive disease. Since valve tissues do not regenerate spontaneously, common medications cannot prevent valve calcification or repair damaged valves. Ace Therapeutics is dedicated to the development of animal models of cardiovascular diseases and can provide customers with a variety of animal models of heart valve disease.
Overview of Animal Models of Heart Valve Disease
The pathogenesis of heart valve disease is complex and may be closely related to inflammation and apoptosis, although the exact pathogenesis has not yet been elucidated. The establishment of a suitable animal model is essential for the in-depth investigation of the pathophysiological process of heart valve disease. An ideal animal model of heart valve disease should have a short modeling time, a typical pathological state of valve inflammation, and observable imaging features.
Fig. 1 Valvular-ventricular interactions and potential fibrotic stimuli and arrhythmogenic triggers in mitral valve prolapse (MVP). (Delling FN, et al., 2022)
Our Services
Ace Therapeutics offers the following development services of animal models of heart valve disease for clients, including but not limited to:
Bacterial-Induced Models
Diet-Induced Models
Drug-Induced Models
Animal Models of Bacterial-Induced Heart Valve Disease
- Overview
We can construct animal models of rheumatic heart valve disease by inducing the development of rheumatic cardiac valvulitis through subcutaneous injection of inactivated Group A β-hemolytic Streptococcus (GAS) with complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA) into experimental animals.
- Available Animal Species and Strains
Mice (C57BL/6 mice, BALB/c mice), rats (SD rats, Wistar rats), rabbits (New Zealand white rabbit, Japanese white rabbit)
- Animal Model Validation
After 6-12 weeks of bacterial antigen injection, we will conduct histopathological tests on the experimental animals. If inflammatory cell infiltration of the heart valves, typical rheumatic vesicles, and formation of rheumatic redundancy are observed, it would indicate that we have successfully constructed animal models of rheumatic heart valve disease.
Animal Models of Diet-Induced Heart Valve Disease
- Overview
The spontaneous formation of calcific aortic valve in experimental animals takes a long time. We can construct an animal model of calcific aortic valve disease by using a high-fat, high-cholesterol diet to induce and accelerate the process of valve calcification in experimental animals.
- Available Animal Species and Strains
Mice (C57BL/6 mice, BALB/c mice), rats (SD rats, Wistar rats), rabbits (New Zealand white rabbit, Japanese white rabbit), pigs (Obbassaw mini-pig, Rapacz pig)
- Animal Model Validation
After 3-12 months of high-fat feeding, we will conduct a pathological examination of animal models. Animal models will be considered successful for modeling if imaging results show aortic stenosis and histopathological examination shows calcium salt deposition in the interstitium of valves.
Animal Models of Drug-Induced Heart Valve Disease
- Overview
Since rabbits are sensitive to vitamin D2, we can add vitamin D2 to the diet and feed rabbits to promote the deposition of calcium salts in heart valves, so as to construct animal models of calcific aortic valve disease.
- Available Animal Species and Strains
Rabbits (New Zealand white rabbit, Japanese white rabbit)
- Animal Model Validation
After 3-6 months of induction with vitamin D2 in the diet, we will conduct a pathological examination of animal models. Animal models will be considered successful if imaging results show aortic valve stenosis, while histopathological tests show calcium salt deposition in the interstitium of valves.
Ace Therapeutics is a contract research organization dedicated in the field of cardiovascular diseases. Based on our rich experience in constructing animal models of cardiovascular diseases, we can provide customized animal models of heart valve diseases according to our clients' individual experimental needs. If you are interested in our services, please don't hesitate to contact us.
Reference
- Delling, F.N.; et al. Research opportunities in the treatment of mitral valve prolapse: JACC expert panel. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2022, 80(24): 2331-2347.
! All of our services and products are intended for preclinical research use only and cannot be intended for any clinical use.
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