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The pig as an optimal animal model for cardiovascular research

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Abstract

Cardiovascular disease is a worldwide health problem and a leading cause of morbidity and mortality. Preclinical cardiovascular research using animals is needed to explore potential targets and therapeutic options. Compared with rodents, pigs have many advantages, with their anatomy, physiology, metabolism and immune system being more similar to humans. Here we present an overview of the available pig models for cardiovascular diseases, discuss their advantages over other models and propose the concept of standardized models to improve translation to the clinical setting and control research costs.

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Fig. 1: Orthotopic transplantation and heterotopic transplantation.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars of China (82125004; to J.S.) and the Frontier Biotechnology Key Project of National Key R & D Program of the Ministry of Science and Technology of China (2023YFC3404300; to J.S.).

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  1. These authors contributed equally: Hao Jia, Yuan Chang.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Beijing Key Laboratory of Preclinical Research and Evaluation for Cardiovascular Implant Materials, Animal Experimental Centre, National Centre for Cardiovascular Disease, Department of Cardiac Surgery, Fuwai Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China

    Hao Jia, Yuan Chang & Jiangping Song

  2. Sanya Institute of China Agricultural University, Sanya, China

    Jiangping Song

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J.S. contributed to the article’s conceptualization. H.J. was instrumental in drafting and revising the manuscript. Y.C. was responsible for drafting the manuscript and designing the figure.

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Jia, H., Chang, Y. & Song, J. The pig as an optimal animal model for cardiovascular research. Lab Anim (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41684-024-01377-4

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