【Animal Modeling】-Establishment of a dual-target mouse model of myocardial ischemia and atherosclerotic plaque angiogenesis

  OBJECTIVE: To explore an effective method for establishing a dual-target mouse model of myocardial ischemia and angiogenesis in atherosclerotic plaques.

  Methods: 10 C57BL/6J mice were used as the control group, and 10 ApoE-/- mice were used as the model group. The control group was fed with normal diet, and the model group was fed with high-fat diet. The model group was fed with high-fat diet for 8 weeks, and then injected subcutaneously. Isoproterenol 100 mg/kg for 2 consecutive days, the control group was subcutaneously injected with the same volume of normal saline. After 4 weeks, serum total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol ( Lowdensity lipoprotein cholesterol, LDL-C) and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels; HE staining was used to observe the pathological changes in different regions of the aorta and myocardium; CD31 immunohistochemical staining was used to detect the aorta and neovascular density in different parts of myocardial tissue.

  Results: The blood levels of TC and LDL-C in the model group were significantly higher than those in the control group (P<0.05), while HDL-C was significantly lower than that in the control group (P<0.05). HE staining showed that the aorta of the model group formed a typical AS disease. After 4 weeks of subcutaneous injection of isoproterenol, typical pathological changes of myocardial infarction were observed in the myocardial tissue of the model group by HE staining; CD31 immunohistochemical staining showed that the density of aortic neovascularization in the model group was significantly higher than that in the control group (P< 0.05), the expression of new blood vessels in the myocardial ischemia area of the model group was the most abundant, which was significantly higher than that in the myocardial infarction area and the normal myocardial tissue area (P<0.05).

  Conclusion: ApoE-/- mice induced myocardial infarction by subcutaneous injection of isoproterenol under high-fat diet, and a dual-target mouse model of myocardial ischemia and AS plaque angiogenesis can be successfully established.