A novel model of myocardial infarction based on atherosclerosis in mice

Coronary artery ligation to induce myocardial infarction (MI) and ischemia injury in mice is typically performed in normal mice, but This is not consistent with disease progression. There should be atherosclerosis (AS) first, followed by MI.We tried a novel model to induce MI that was established on atherosclerosis in mice. This approach was much more consistent with disease progression.In this study, Mice lacking apolipoprotein E (ApoE-/-) were randomly divided into four groups. The mice of the control and MI groups were fed normal diet for 24-weeks, while the mice of AS and AS + MI groups were fed high-fat diet (HFD). After 23 weeks, the mice of MI and AS + MI groups were ligated with coronary arteries. A week later, after echocardiography, analysis of plaque and myocardium were conducted on aortic and heart, then the serum, aorta and heart tissues were further detected.Our results showed that AS model mice exhibited significant body weight gain, dyslipidemia and atherosclerotic lesions formation which were in accordance with the pathological changes of AS. Co-treatment with AS and MI led to higher operative mortality and heart pathological were in accordance with the pathological changes of MI. In addition, Echocardiography and NT pro-BNP revealed co-treatment with AS and MI led to deterioration of cardiac function. AS also aggravated myocardial inflammatory cell infiltration and fibrosis post-MI.Together, it is feasible to establish myocardial infarction model based on atherosclerosis model.