|
| Animal | Advantages | Disadvantages |
|
| Rats and mice | (i) Low cost
(ii) High availability
(iii) Easy to handle and maintain
(iv) Manageable breeding
(v) Well-established genomic sequencing permit genetic manipulation | (i) Typically resistant to atherogenesis
(ii) Absence of plasma CETP activity [93]
(iii) Most cholesterol is transported through HDL particles [94]
(iv) The small size of mice limits frequent blood sampling and dissection of small arteries |
|
| Rabbits | (i) Easy to handle and maintain
(ii) Relatively inexpensive
(iii) High availability
(iv) Sensitive to dietary cholesterol induction of atherosclerosis
(v) Large enough to permit physiological experiments | (i) Lesion location less compared with humans [95]
(ii) Deficiency in hepatic lipase leads to hepatotoxicity following prolonged cholesterol feeding [96] |
|
| Pigs | (i) An anatomically and physiologically similar cardiovascular system compared to humans [97]
(ii) Susceptible to spontaneous atherosclerosis [98]
(iii) Comparable patterns of plaque distribution [99]
(iv) High availability (for miniature pigs) | (i) Large size with resultant management difficulties
(ii) High maintenance cost |
|
| Dogs | (i) Easy to work with
(ii) Ideal size
(iii) High availability | (i) Highly resistant to atherogenesis
(ii) Status and anthropomorphic attitudes toward dogs
(iii) Differences in important aspects of their cardiovascular system than humans [100] |
|
| Hamsters | (i) Low cost
(ii) High availability
(iii) Easy to handle and maintain
(iv) Carry a significant portion of its plasma cholesterol in LDL particles and is therefore close to humans [101]
(v) Sensitive to high-fat diets [102] | (i) Inconsistency of lesion development and absence of advanced lesions [103]
(ii) Require highly abnormal diets and/or treatment with a cytotoxic chemical agent, such as streptozotocin [104] |
|
| Guinea pigs | (i) Develop diet-induced atherosclerosis
(ii) Most of cholesterol is transported in LDL particles [105]
(iii) Ovariectomized guinea pigs showed a similar plasma lipid profile as in postmenopausal women [106] | (i) Require constant supplementation with vitamin C, which potentially acts as an antioxidant to interfere with atherogenesis [107] |
|
| Nonhuman primates | (i) Genetically resemblance to humans
(ii) Similar omnivorous diet
(iii) Similar metabolism
(iv) Develop metabolic syndrome as they age [108] | (i) Expensive
(ii) Low availability
(iii) Live long (thus requiring lengthy experimental periods)
(iv) Potential carriers of dangerous viral zoonoses [104]
(v) Significant ethical issues |
|
| Pigeon | (i) Low cost
(ii) Easy handling
(iii) Susceptible to atherosclerosis
(iv) Sufficient size | (i) Nonmammalian
(ii) Lipoprotein compositions and metabolism are different [109]
(iii) Differences in arterial histology [110] |
|
| Chicken | (i) Low cost
(ii) High availability
(iii) Develop atherosclerosis naturally in aorta and coronary arteries, with cholesterol feeding accelerating the pathogenesis [111] | (i) Nonmammalian
(ii) Viral infection is associated with atherosclerosis [112, 113] |
|
