Supervisors info:
Ωραιάνθη Τραυλού, Ομότιμη Καθηγήτρια, Ιατρική Σχολή, ΕΚΠΑ
Σερένα Βαλσάμη, Επίκουρη Καθηγήτρια Αιματολογίας, Ιατρική Σχολή, ΕΚΠΑ
Αργυρή Γιαλεράκη, Αναπληρώτρια Καθηγήτρια, Ιατρική Σχολή, ΕΚΠΑ
Summary:
Thrombosis is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. About 1/3 of patients with deep vein thrombosis develop post-thrombotic syndrome, a chronic condition with reduced quality of life. The need to create animal models was developed in order to study the mechanism of thrombosis and its treatment. According to records that have been discovered, animal models have been used as research tools from ancient times. The first animal which was used for scientific purposes was the rat Rattus norvegicus, which belonged to the rodent family, later, they started using the mouse Mus musculus and even later the dog, the cat, the pig and non-human primates appeared in this field. Animal models can be either induced or spontaneous. Some induced thrombosis animal models that are used in mice, rats and pigs are venous stasis and stenosis, by using ferric chloride (FeCl3), by causing photochemical injury, by using stent-graft, by thrombin administration and by following a high-fat diet. The creation of transgenic animals enabled researchers to develop specific spontaneous animal models for each disease. In the study of thrombosis, the most widely used transgenic animal is the Apoe-/- mouse, which develops atherosclerosis spontaneously. Some in vivo thrombosis protocols have already been used successfully and they have helped to better understand pathologic pathways which take place in coagulation and the efficacy and safety of novel antithrombotic drugs. The ultimate goal of researchers is to create a new thrombosis model, which will more resemble human thrombi in pathophysiology level, with the aim of making even more targeted antithrombotic drugs for a longer and better-quality life.
