Affiliation:
1. The Laboratory of Experimental Surgery and Surgical Research, School
of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
Abstract
The aim of the present mini review is to describe the laboratory rabbit, an animal that has been widely used for the study of atherosclerosis, the leading cause of mortality in Western society. Due to the fact that the rabbit exhibits hypercholesterolaemia within a few days of an administration of a high cholesterol diet, it is very sensitive to the inducement of atheromatic lesions. The administration of different types of diets can cause different types of lesions. Although these lesions do not develop as tissue plaques, a great number of researchers use this animal model to test the effectiveness of drugs because of their similarity to human fatty streaks. The generation over recent years of transgenic rabbits with alterations in specific genes is expected to help with the elucidation of the mechanisms underlying the initial and developmental stages of the disease. The laboratory rabbit is significantly broadening our understanding on the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis.
Subject
General Veterinary,Animal Science and Zoology
Cited by
135 articles.
订阅此论文施引文献
订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献