Background

Arterial thrombosis is the most common cause of death in North America since it is the underlying cause of most acute myocardial infarctions (MI) and cerebrovascular accidents, the two most common forms of cardiovascular disease.  Approximately 1.1 million Americans suffer myocardial infarctions annually, and approximately half this number will suffer from a cerebrovascular accident (stroke).  The most common underlying condition that contributes to an arterial thrombotic event is atherosclerosis, a disease of the arterial vessel walls of medium and large arteries.  It is thought that clots form when the plaque formed by atherosclerosis is damaged in some way, exposing the vessel walls and initiating clot formation.

Models

Biomodels had developed and validated a reproducible and quantifiable animal model to compare the anti-thrombogenic activities of novel therapeutics to provide a pre-clinical means of assessing the potential benefits of new drugs and drug combinations in the reduction of the risk of promoting arterial thrombosis.

In this model, C57Bl/6 mice are anesthetized and the carotid artery is surgically exposed.  A thrombus is induced by the direct application of a solution of ferric chloride (FeCl3) to the adventitial surface of the vein.  Thrombus formation is measured using intravital video microscopy alone or in conjunction with a laser Doppler flow probe to monitor vessel occlusion.