Evaluating the Efficacy and Pathophysiology of 28-Day Diet Induced Atherosclerosis Models: A Comprehensive Review

Author

Shruthy. P, Dr. Jyoti Harindran

Abstract

 Atherosclerosis is a chronic inflammatory disease that usually develops over a prolonged period. Rapid animal models are therefore valuable for studying early lesion formation, testing interventions, and evaluating vascular mechanisms within a practical experimental timeframe.This review examines 28-day or four-week diet-induced atherosclerosis protocols and closely related short-term models. The review considers dietary composition, animal species and strains, supplementary mechanical or chemical interventions, lipid outcomes, inflammatory responses, lesion morphology, histopathology, reproducibility, and translational relevance. Four-week protocols can produce marked dyslipidaemia, endothelial dysfunction, inflammatory activation, intimal expansion, macrophage accumulation, and early atherosclerotic-like lesions. The most rapid and reproducible outcomes are generally obtained when an atherogenic diet is combined with genetic susceptibility or a supplementary vascular injury.A 28-day diet-induced model is useful for investigating early atherogenesis and accelerated vascular responses. However, the protocol should be selected according to the scientific question because diet-only models, genetically susceptible models, and injury-assisted models do not reproduce identical aspects of human atherosclerosis.

Keywords

Atherosclerosis models, Diet-induced atherosclerosis , 28-day model / Short-term models , Atherogenesis, Pathophysiology

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