The rat as a model for cardiovascular disease

Rats have been used as important animal models in biomedical research since over 100 years. The advantage of using rats for cardiovascular disease related studies includes their size, a larger blood volume than that of mice, and lower cost compared to larger animals. Inbred rat lines have been used especially for hypertension related research such as spontaneously hypertensive rats. In addition since sequencing of the rat genome rat gene maps have been well-developed and maps are available for polymorphic marker and quantitative trait loci. Furthermore, transgenic rats have been generated for several cardiovascular disease entities, especially hypertension. Currently, no established rat lines with molecular biological technique induced gene deletions have been described. In view of the wealth of experimental data, especially related to hypertension research, rats will continue to be used as an excellent model for cardiovascular disease related studies.

Section editors:Ju Chen – University of California, San Diego, Department of Medicine, La Jolla, CA, USARobert Ross – University of California, San Diego, Cardiology Section, San Diego, CA, USA