Broiler Ascites Syndrome as a Potential Spontaneous Animal Model for Human Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension: A...

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), a major subtype of pulmonary hypertension (PH), is a significant human pulmonary disease whose pathogenic mechanisms remain incompletely understood. Conventional animal models for PAH induction often fail to fully replicate the entire disease progression, making it difficult to trace the initial causes, key pathogenic events, and early disease mechanisms. We propose an evidence-based hypothesis that Broiler Ascites Syndrome (BAS) exhibits high similarity to human pulmonary arterial hypertension in terms of pathogenic triggers and molecular pathology, suggesting its potential as a spontaneous animal model for PAH research. This review systematically summarizes the pathogenic mechanisms and disease-inducing factors of BAS, analyzing its pathobiological commonalities with PAH. We demonstrate shared features in pulmonary vascular remodeling mechanisms, including cellular dysfunction, tissue fibrosis, and immune dysregulation. Furthermore, consistent reactive mechanisms are observed across different types of PAH-related studies and corresponding poultry research. This collective evidence supports the feasibility of utilizing BAS as a spontaneous animal model for PAH investigation. By comparing the pathogenic mechanisms of BAS and PAH, this work provides novel insights for developing animal models in PAH research. If validated, this model could address limitations of existing models regarding hypoxia tolerance, and right heart remodeling.