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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2015 Mar 12.
Published in final edited form as: Nat Rev Immunol. 2013 Sep 2;13(10):709–721. doi: 10.1038/nri3520

Table 1.

Selected mouse models of atherosclerosis progression and regression

Mouse model Important Features Lipoprotein
profile		 Ref
Progression
    Apoe−/− mice

  • Spontaneous development of complex plaques on a chow diet; acceleration of plaque formation on a western diet

 Intestinally derived remnant particles
    Ldlr−/− mice

  • Development of plaques upon feeding a cholesterol and fat-enriched diet; lipoprotein profile more human-like

 VLDL; LDL
Regression
    Aortic transplant Mice

  • Rapid regression of atherosclerosis; requires surgical procedure, for example from Apoe−/− to wild-type mice
    REVERSA mice

  • Ldlr−/− mouse-based platform with inducible reversal of hyperlipidemia from conditional inactivation of the Microsomal triglyceride transfer protein large subunit (Mttp) gene

 All revert to near
wild-type mouse
levels
    Reconstitution of
APOE in Apoe−/−

  • Inducible regression of atherosclerosis by adenoviral delivery of Apoe to the liver

  • Hypomorphic expression of Apoe