Millon Antoine, Canet-Soulas Emmanuelle, Boussel Loic, Fayad Zahi, Douek Philippe
Vascular. 2014 Jun;22(3):221-37. doi: 10.1177/1708538113478758.
Atherosclerosis, the main cause of heart attack and stroke, is the leading cause of death in most modern countries. Preventing clinical events depends on a better understanding of the mechanism of atherosclerotic plaque destabilization. Our knowledge on the characteristics of vulnerable plaques in humans has grown past decades. Histological studies have provided a precise definition of high-risk lesions and novel imaging methods for human atherosclerotic plaque characterization have made significant progress. However the pathological mechanisms leading from stable lesions to the formation of vulnerable plaques remain uncertain and the related clinical events are unpredictable. An animal model mimicking human plaque destablization is required as well as an in vivo imaging method to assess and monitor atherosclerosis progression. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is increasingly used for in vivo assessment of atherosclerotic plaques in the human carotids. MRI provides well-characterized morphological and functional features of human atherosclerotic plaque which can be also assessed in animal models. This review summarizes the most common species used as animal models for experimental atherosclerosis, the techniques to induce atherosclerosis and to obtain vulnerable plaques, together with the role of MRI for monitoring atherosclerotic plaques in animals.
动脉粥样硬化是心脏病发作和中风的主要原因，在大多数现代国家中是首要死因。预防临床事件取决于对动脉粥样硬化斑块不稳定机制的更好理解。在过去几十年里，我们对人类易损斑块特征的认识有所增长。组织学研究对高风险病变给出了精确的定义，用于人类动脉粥样硬化斑块特征描述的新型成像方法也取得了重大进展。然而，从稳定病变发展到易损斑块形成的病理机制仍不明确，相关的临床事件也无法预测。需要一种模拟人类斑块不稳定的动物模型以及一种体内成像方法来评估和监测动脉粥样硬化的进展。磁共振成像（MRI）越来越多地用于对人类颈动脉粥样硬化斑块进行体内评估。MRI能提供特征明确的人类动脉粥样硬化斑块的形态和功能特征，这些特征在动物模型中也可进行评估。本综述总结了用作实验性动脉粥样硬化动物模型的最常见物种、诱导动脉粥样硬化和获取易损斑块的技术，以及MRI在监测动物动脉粥样硬化斑块方面的作用。
