Summary
Arterial thrombosis occurs at sites of erosion or rupture of atherosclerotic vascular
lesions. To better study the pathophysiology of this complex phenomenon, there is
a need for animal models of localised thrombosis at sites of atherosclerotic lesions
with closer resemblance to the human pathology as compared to commonly used thrombosis
models in healthy vessels. In the present study, we describe and compare a new model
of thrombosis induced by atherosclerotic plaque rupture in the carotid artery from
ApoE-/- mice using a suture needle to a milder model of ultrasound-induced plaque injury.
Needle injury induces atherosclerotic plaque rupture with exposure of plaque material
and formation of a thrombus that is larger, nearly occlusive and more stable as compared
to that formed by application of ultrasounds. These two models have common features
such as the concomitant involvement of platelet activation, thrombin generation and
fibrin formation, which translates into sensitivity toward both antiplatelet drugs
and anticoagulants. On the other hand, they display differences with respect to the
role of the platelet collagen receptor GPVI, the plaque rupture model being less sensitive
to its inhibition as compared to the ultrasound-induced injury, which may be related
to the amount of thrombin generated. These models represent an improvement as compared
to models in healthy vessels and may help identify specific plaque triggers of thrombosis.
They should therefore be useful to evaluate new antithrombotic targets.
Keywords
Animal models - antiplatelet agents - atherosclerosis - arterial thrombosis - atherothrombosis