A report on the use of animal models and phenotyping methods in pulmonary hypertension research

Abstract

The failure to translate positive results from preclinical studies into new clinical therapies is a major problem throughout medical research. Specifically, in pulmonary hypertension, numerous research studies have shown beneficial effects of new therapies in experimental models, but these have largely failed to translate into clinical benefit in human trials. This is undoubtedly due, at least in part, to inadequacies of the models, but while monogenic animal models will never fully recapitulate human disease, they do still provide the best platform on which to test novel therapeutic agents. In the postgenomic era, there is emphasis on a greater understanding of disease pathogenesis, which has subsequently led to the development of both new targets and new models in which to test them. The evolution of new technologies means that we are now better equipped to phenotype these models, but the level of detail provided varies dramatically throughout the literature. However, subtle variances in experimental methods can make comparing data/findings between research laboratories difficult and are a possible contributing factor to variance between preclinical and clinical data. The aim of this report was to capture information on current practice for use of the growing array of animal models, to help movement toward developing guidelines and standards for the “best” use of animal models of pulmonary hypertension.