Abstract:

BACKGROUND: Rabbit model has been widely used in the research of human cardiovascular disease, particularly the transgenic rabbit, has become a novel model in human atherosclerosis.
OBJECTIVE: To summarize and discuss the preparation and application of transgenic rabbit model in studying human atherosclerosis.
METHODS: A computer-based online search was conducted in PubMed for English language publications containing the key words of “rabbit, transgenic, atherosclerosis” from January 1990 to January 2010. Relevant articles were also searched from CNKI with the same key words in Chinese from January 1990 to January 2010. The searched documents were summarized from the aspects of model preparation, evaluation, application and progress.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: A total of 103 articles about targeting role of transgenic rabbit model were included. Articles published earlier, duplicated, and similarly were excluded, and 32 references were finally included. The results demonstrated that, rabbits play an important role in medical studies, due to the similar features in protein metabolism as human, the rabbit models are widely used in research human atherosclerosis. High fat and cholesterol can induce atherosclerosis in rabbits. Transgenic rabbits are also applied in biomedical studies, as so far, more than 30 transgenic rabbit have been generated including apolipoprotein (a), apolipoprotein A-II, apolipoprotein B, apolipoprotein E2, as well as apolipoprotein E3 genes. Transgenic rabbits provide new special insights into the mechanisms regulating the development of human atherosclerosis.