Nonhuman primate models of thrombosis

Arterial thrombosis and its associated clinical diseases make it one of the leading causes of death today. The majority of myocardial infarctions are caused by arterial thrombosis with acute myocardial infarction being the number one killer of individuals at a premature age. Venous thromboembolism (VTE) has a national morbidity exceeding 900,000 persons, with approximately 300,000 fatalities annually. Unfortunately, the incidence of this disease has not significantly changed over the past 25 years, possibly due to the increasing identification of new cases. The use of nonhuman primate models of vascular disease is essential to our understanding of the mechanisms that promote thrombogenesis in humans. These large animal models have close phylogenetic, anatomic, and physiologic similarities to humans, which make them necessary for many translational vascular research applications. Thus, translational animal models can help accelerate the development of new pharmacologic and medical devices targeted at limiting vascular inflammation and thrombosis. This review provides a brief overview of several nonhuman primate models used for the development of novel interventions directed at thrombotic diseases.