The ApoE-Null Golden Hamster: A Novel Model of Atherosclerosis

Atherosclerosis is a chronic, progressive arterial disease characterized by the deposition of lipids on the inner arterial walls, leading to plaque formation and serious cardiovascular events. Traditional mouse models of atherosclerosis require prolonged dietary induction to exhibit arterial lesions due to significant differences in lipid metabolism compared to humans. In contrast, Golden hamsters share a lipid metabolic profile more closely aligned with humans. In this study, we utilized CRISPR/Cas9 to generate ApoE knockout (ApoE^-/-) hamsters using, which spontaneously developed atherosclerotic lesions in the arterial wall after 8 weeks on a standard chow diet. When fed on a high-cholesterol/high-fat diet, they exhibited even more severe aortic atherosclerosis, fatty liver, and liver fibrosis. Our findings demonstrated that the ApoE^-/- hamster model is highly valuable tool for translational research, offering significant potential for studying hyperlipidemia and atherosclerosis in a context more relevant to human physiology.