Characterization of a robust mouse model of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction

Heart failure (HF) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality particularly in older adults and patients with multiple metabolic comorbidities. Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) is a clinical syndrome with multisystem organ dysfunction in which patients develop symptoms of HF as a result of high left ventricular (LV) diastolic pressure in the context of normal or near normal LV ejection fraction (LVEF; ≥50%). Challenges to create and reproduce a robust rodent phenotype that recapitulates the multiple comorbidities that exist in this syndrome explain the presence of various animal models that fail to satisfy all the criteria of HFpEF. Using a continuous infusion of angiotensin II and phenylephrine (ANG II/PE), we demonstrate a strong HFpEF phenotype satisfying major clinically relevant manifestations and criteria of this pathology, including exercise intolerance, pulmonary edema, concentric myocardial hypertrophy, diastolic dysfunction, histological signs of microvascular impairment, and fibrosis. Conventional echocardiographic analysis of diastolic dysfunction identified early stages of HFpEF development and speckle tracking echocardiography analysis including the left atrium (LA) identified strain abnormalities indicative of contraction-relaxation cycle impairment. Diastolic dysfunction was validated by retrograde cardiac catheterization and analysis of LV end-diastolic pressure (LVEDP). Among mice that developed HFpEF, two major subgroups were identified with predominantly perivascular fibrosis and interstitial myocardial fibrosis. In addition to major phenotypic criteria of HFpEF that were evident at early stages of this model (3 and 10 days), accompanying RNAseq data demonstrate activation of pathways associated with myocardial metabolic changes, inflammation, activation of extracellular matrix (ECM) deposition, microvascular rarefaction, and pressure- and volume-related myocardial stress.NEW & NOTEWORTHY Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) is an emerging epidemic affecting up to half of patients with heart failure. Here we used a chronic angiotensin II/phenylephrine (ANG II/PE) infusion model and instituted an updated algorithm for HFpEF assessment. Given the simplicity in generating this model, it may become a useful tool for investigating pathogenic mechanisms, identification of diagnostic markers, and for drug discovery aimed at both prevention and treatment of HFpEF.