Academy of Surgical Research: Novel, Minimally Invasive, Toxin Administration into the Pericardial Space for the Developlment of Heart Failure in Swine

Jay Budrewicz, Kenta Nakamura, Mikhail Maslov, Anna Spognardi, Misty Williams-Fritze, Brett Zani, John Keating, Peter Markham, Mark Lovich, Elazer Edelman. “Novel, Minimally Invasive, Toxin Administration into the Pericardial Space for the Developlment of Heart Failure in Swine.”

Summary: Due to the growing population of adult cancer survivors, there is a dramatically increasing patient population developing heart failure (HF) as a result of the cardiotoxic effects of chemotherapy, such as the anthracycline-based regimen. A simple and reliable large animal cardiotoxicity HF model created through clinically relevant cardiotoxic mechanisms is necessary for testing novel pharmacologic, cell/tissue-based, and device therapies.

Two juvenile Yorkshire swine were administered different doses per body mass (30mg/m2 and 3mg/m2) of the toxin doxorubicin hydrogel. Transesophageal echocardiography, histological data and general health data were collected to evaluate the effects of the toxin. A minimally invasive approach for local administration of doxorubicin into the pericardial cavity was developed as a means to generate a chronic model of toxin based HF in swine. The results indicate the model shows promise; however, the dosing regimen requires further optimization.

Presented at the 33rd Annual Meeting of the Academy of Surgical Research, 4-5th October, Las Vegas, NV.