The Making of Rabbit Model of Myocardial Iron Overload and the Study of Iron Deposition

  Objective To investigate the method of making an animal model of myocardial iron deposition and the relationship between the iron deposition law of the heart and liver.

  Method 40 male New Zealand white rabbits were randomly divided into an experimental group of 32 and a control group of 8 rabbits. The white rabbits in the experimental group were injected subcutaneously with iron dextran 200 mg/kg every Monday; 2 white rabbits were randomly sacrificed every Sunday, and 1 white rabbit in the control group was randomly sacrificed every Sunday at an interval of 1 week; part of the heart and liver tissues were taken out, Rinse repeatedly with normal saline until the residual blood in the heart and liver tissue is drained, and place it in an electric thermostatic blast drying oven (temperature 65℃) to dry until the weight does not change. The dried heart and liver tissues were measured with a flame atomic absorption spectrophotometer to measure the iron concentration (CIC, LIC) of the heart and liver, and some of the heart and liver tissues were fixed and stained with HE and Prussian blue. Results With the increase of iron injection, the pathological results showed that the number of iron particles stained with Prussian blue in the myocardium of the experimental group increased, and the CIC gradually increased (range 0.20 ~ 2.34 mg / g dry weight, median 1.24 mg / g dry weight). There was a moderate correlation between CIC and total iron injection (r = 0.998, P<0.05, P <0.001), and a moderate correlation between CIC and serum iron (r = 0.415, P <0 . 05, P = 0.022). There is a high correlation between CIC and LIC (r = 0. 712, P <0. 05, P <0. 001).

   Conclusion By subcutaneously injecting iron dextran at a dose of 200 mg/kg, a rabbit model of myocardial iron overload can be established. There is no correlation between iron deposition in the heart and liver.